When it comes to spice grinding, nothing works like a mortar and pestle.
The thing is, most of the ones I see commercially available are dinky little things that are useless for smashing anything of consequence.
If you are serious about cooking, you need a big one. The bigger the better. You can just grind so much more efficiently and you can still do small amounts of whatever you need.
Evidence of this is that the shops where you find the large, heavy and durable ones are the ethnic shops that cater to cultures who use the devices regularly, Asian and East Indian shops, African shops too.
I have tried to grind spices in little ones and find the experience terribly frustrating.
If you want one for decoration, that's fine, I guess, but it is a tool, an efficient and traditional tool that lets you connect with your ingredients in a meaningful way.
A little one might be nice if pharmacy is your hobby. . . but I'm pretty sure that's frowned upon.
I love my mortar and pestle and hope you can learn to love one too some day.
