Grabbing a jar of pre-ground spice happens because the mortar and pestle are buried in a cabinet, or it feels like too much work. Most mortars are big, porous bowls that live in the back of a cupboard, coming out only for special recipes. CW&T’s Spicy is a different take, a mortar and pestle small and sculptural enough to live on the counter all the time, making it easier to reach for when you need it.
Spicy is a ball-and-socket style mortar and pestle machined from stainless steel. It is only about 66mm across and 60mm tall, but it weighs around 1.31kg, with a glass bead-blasted exterior and a rough interior surface. It holds about a tablespoon of spices, just enough for finishing a dish or grinding a small batch of seeds without pulling out the full kitchen arsenal.
Designer: CW&T
Dropping a pinch of peppercorns or cardamom into the cup and wrapping your hand around the spherical pestle, you roll and twist the ball against the rough interior, feeling the resistance and the way the spices break down under the weight. The continuous contact between ball and bowl makes the motion more like drawing circles than hammering, which is easier on the wrist and oddly satisfying.
The rather hefty mass keeps the mortar planted while you grind, so you are not chasing it around the counter. The glass bead exterior feels soft and matte in the hand, while the rough interior bites into seeds and dried herbs. A cork base cushions the action and protects the table but still lets the piece slide slightly if you want to reposition it mid-session.
Spicy is machined from food- and dishwasher-safe stainless steel, so cleanup is as simple as rinsing or tossing both parts into the dishwasher. There is no porous stone to stain or absorb flavors, and no wooden handle to baby. That durability, combined with the compact footprint, makes it easy to justify leaving it on the counter next to oil and salt instead of packing it away.
Spicy is designed to pair with Salty, CW&T’s minimalist salt cellar, sharing the same cylindrical geometry and machined metal finish. Together, they turn a corner of the kitchen into a small landscape of dense, precise objects that invite touch. It fits into CW&T’s habit of over-building simple tools, so they feel like permanent fixtures rather than disposable gadgets.
Spicy is not trying to reinvent cooking; it is just making one small part of it feel more intentional. By compressing a mortar and pestle into a heavy, palm-sized ball and cup, it turns grinding spices into a quick, tactile ritual you might actually look forward to. Kitchens full of plastic grinders and pre-ground jars make freshly crushed spices feel like too much effort, but a tiny stainless-steel weight that lives on the counter is a quiet argument for doing one thing properly.
