Side by Side Comparison of: CounterArt vs Thirstystone

 I love these! They are so pretty and very very absorbent. There is cork under the bottom, so no scratching on the counter to worry about. These are incredible. This video shows me running one under water and how fast the water soaks in. Some of the water runs off, but that was just the way I was holding the coaster for the camera. It really soaks in quickly. And, I had already tried to make 2 other videos with the same coaster just a few minutes earlier, but it was too long to email, so this is the third time running it under the water and it still soaked up the water.

I have bought several similar coasters for myself and as gifts in the past. I always like them. These are a nice set with an Asian flair. I really like that they have cork on the bottom and a holder, too. Because these are a lighter color, they will show stains, and you will need to clean them right away with soap and water to avoid permanent stains. I recently bought an area rug with a similar pattern, and they look great in the room now.

I was confused by the description of moisture-absorbing stone... but it's exactly what you'd expect out of a ceramic coaster, but better. The design is gorgeous and matches my living room perfectly.

I've used all types of coasters including bamboo, woven, and sandstone but they all have problems when a glass is very wet with condensation: the top of the coaster becomes wet as well and sticks to the glass. This is especially bad with sandstone models because they are heavy and can damage furniture when they fall from the glass. Furthermore, the coasters can develop mildew, which is almost impossible to remove.Happily, these coasters seem to do a very good job of absorbing moisture, and resist sticking. They are also quite attractive and well made, with a nice, finished look. I recommend these without reservation.

These look wonderful against any kind of wood or marble--they are even prettier than I expected. I like that they come with a holder to keep them organized. I was worried that they might scratch, but they're covered with cork on the bottom so no amount of moving them around has caused any damage to my table surfaces. And they really do absorb liquids to the point where my drinks no longer drip on me when I pick them up.

Just go this yesterday. Used it for a drippy, sopping cup. The stone absorbed great - not a drop on the wood and the coaster itself felt dry to the touch.

These are the most beautiful natural sandstone coasters I've ever seen. I purchased two sets for a wedding gift and about to or myself a couple of sets. They come well packed and quickly. I really can't express how impressed I am with these. I would recommend them to anyone...for either yourself or as a gift. So, so attractive.

Beautiful sandstone coasters, they absorb moisture if a drink sweats, unlike some coasters that just sit wet all day. They are of a durable quality and don't seem like they would break if you dropped it. Cork bottom to keep it from scratching any furniture. This is my second time buying Thirsty Stone coasters (I'm a return customer) because after 8 years I decided I needed a second set!

These stones have held up well and can absorb all the condensation cast off by a 20 oz. glass of iced tea refilled frequently over several hours on a July afternoon in the US South. They are dense and offer an excellent opportunity to scratch/damage furniture or countertops. I would also keep them out of reach of small children. The cork pad on the bottom is about a quarter inch short of the edge of the stone, so careful placement is required on glass tabletops.Overall very happy with these coasters.

These coasters are the real deal. I finally had to retire the set I'd bought years ago and tried to replace them with less expensive ceramic products that were attractive and looked like they might work. They didn't absorb condensation and the water spread all over the place and the glasses picked up the coasters because they were so wet. I bought these Thirsty Stone coasters and they're great, even in Florida humidity. Highly recommended.

Absolutely wonderful! These coasters absorb like nobody's business! Everyday, I sit a frozen 32oz plastic water bottle on it (indoors). The ice melts throughout the day and not a single drop spills over onto my desk. Even with all that it absorbs, Its smooth surface remains in tact and it's dry and ready to go the next morning. I'm pleased with my purchase...money well spent!

These coasters work wonderfully to keep moisture off of your coffee table. The porous material absorbs moisture easily and effectively. The sand stone also looks great on a variety of table top surfaces. It looks great on our black coffee table. I like how the coasters are decently heavy and not flimsy. Spend the extra $ and get these coasters instead of the cheaper ones. You won't be sorry.

Very attractive with quality feel. Purchased for house warming gift.

These are good quality coasters. They're a good weight and the holder looks nice on my table. They only got 4 stars because the print of the art is a little blurry and it could have been made better, like the picture that was used for them was low resolution or something.

Bought these for my office, which has a bit of a "nature" theme -- blues, browns, greens, and some lovely artwork of trees and plants. These match well. Lovely design, solid construction - a nice heavy ceramic feel. Cork on the bottom is solid.

Great product and works as expected. The only thing I was slightly disappointed by, is that the image on the coasters didn't seem as clear as it did in the product picture. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the product and use them on a daily basis.

Very pretty design, I like the case as it makes it easy to move them around, as needed. In high humidity they have the same challenges as most coasters (glass sticks and excessive moisture rolls off onto furniture).

Beautiful but the image isn't as sharp as I thought it would be but still nice. I think these will look great with my new furniture.

I purchased these coasters to replace silicone ones that I purchased previously that did not work as advertised because the honeycomb mold on the base is not deep enough to take condensation from glasses away from the glass bottom and as a result, the glass dripped large amounts of water on you when drinking. After only a few uses of these sandstone coasters, it was obvious these would do a much better job, as they absorb the moisture and take it away from the glass bottoms. They may chip easier, but they perform better for use in warm climates where condensation from cold drinks accumulates on the bottom of glasses and on the coasters.

These look neat and are good at absorbing condensation. There's cork glued to the bottom to prevent scratches, but you still need to be a bit careful about it because the cork doesn't cover the entire bottom, and sandstone will scratch pretty much any surface (even glass).

These reside on our coffee table and we use them everyday. Soaks up all the condensation from cold drinks. Holding up well, even with cats that try to play hockey with them.

I bought these for my stepmother. Her coasters were chipped from being dropped so many times (they would stick to the drinks and fall off onto the table). These coasters are too heavy to do that, and they also literally do suck up any water from a glass' condensation. The only problem is the photo is not very true-to-life. The photo makes the swirls almost look pearlescent, but in reality these coasters have a sandy texture/color/quality. Aside from that, fantastic quality.

Good coasters, nice to look at. I've read reviews that they lose color over time. I can't speak to that, since I've only had them for about 6 weeks. They haven't lost color yet, but I've made rings on them, which is to be expected. I gave them four stars instead of five because I paid more for them than I planned to spend on coasters. But there's no hiding quality.

These are great. They look and feel natural. They do exactly what they say they are to do. Someone at my house got something on one of mine though and I have no idea what it is but it now has a few white rings on it (seemingly permanently) which I'm not happy about. Not knowing what it is though causes a conundrum because I don't know if it's a manufacture mistake or defect. I still recommend them, just use them for what they are meant to be used for, or else who knows.

i like these a a lot.The good news: these coasters are super absorbent and actually work. You will never pick a glass up off of these things and have condensation from your glass drip all over your arm. The "Thirstystone" coasters I have are the opposite of that....condensation everywhere including a pool sitting on the coaster itself. They should be called "Not So Thirstystone".The bad news: As with the other set of counterArt coasters I have, these get dirty from seemingly nothing and won't come clean. When new, they are shiny white and over time they have beige look and spots that won't come out. Out of the 4 coasters, there were three that I used regularly and one that tended to stay in the holder. After a while, i compared the used and the unused coasters and the used ones were beige and dingy looking. Warm soapy water didn't help. Maybe bleach would work, but who knows what the coaster would look like after that.Great looking coasters that work exceptionally well, but get irreparably dingy.

These are standard coasters. They are over priced. I could have purchased at a much lower cost

I loved these coasters when they first arrived but they soon developed a brown ring around where the glass sets. Nothing has been spilled, it's just from the glass condensation. We've been using them for about a year. They still work great but no longer look as nice.

the design is nice, but I was disappointed on the coloring of the coasters. The design is very lightly colored. I wish the color was darker and more pronounced so it can stand out more.

These do not look nearly as nice as they do in there picture. I returned these, because the image was not clear and colorful like I should it should have been.

Very pretty, but darker beige than pictured, and turns darker after just one use.

As many others said, the richness of the stone in the picture is much better than what you actually receive. I just received mine today and I had to double check to make sure the right coasters was shipped. I love Thirstystone coasters and there is nothing wrong with the quality of the product I received, but its just too plain and light. Cant really even notice any design in the stone.Guess its my fault for ordering a natural looking stone rather than the printed coasters like the ones I ordered the first time. Guess I will just place a order for one of the printed sets of coasters.

The description is more accurate than the picture. The coasters are definitely​ not as pretty as the picture and they are a little bit more "rough" feeling than I was expecting. But.. they do the job.

These coasters are very pretty. All the coasters are pretty much the same design. They absorb water, but if you leave a glass with ice water on them for any period of time they become waterlogged and make a mess on the table. That is the only negative I have.

Okay color, but not really. The picture depicts something more rich looking, however, what I received was not as rich looking in the pattern. Oh well, I still needed them, and absolutely am a fan of sandstone coasters to absorb dripping droplets.

The coasters are ok the pictures can be deceiving a little as when i received these they were more faded than i would have expected. The picture makes them look polished and smooth which is something i didn't receive. Now these coasters will do the job but i just wished that they looked a little better especially for the price.

The way the stone absorbs water is very cool, The stone is thick and looks nice sitting on a table or desk---like a premium coaster. However, 2 of the coasters they sent me had flaws in them, one had a "stain" (a dark patch that looks the stone was stained with a dark ink or something) and the other hand a hairline fracture in it. Because these are natural stone, I guess you can't expect perfection, but because they are so hard to return, they probably offload the bad ones through Amazon. Be careful.

If it drops to the floor, IT WILL CRACK/BREAK. These are made like a ceramic tile and not particularly durable.

Bottom started to peel off and one of them cracked pretty quickly.

I purchased these a little over a year ago. At first, I LOVED them, they functioned perfectly, looked exactly as pictured... 5 stars. In the last several months they do not function at all. Glasses, with the slightest amount of condensation adhere to them, then fall. ALWAYS. I don't know what happened to them, they just no longer work. :-(

The coasters that were delivered to me have a completely different picture on them, but the description on the packaging matches.

Love the look but these just don't soak up moisture like the others do. I've had three or four Thirstystine sets and these just aren't that great. Love the look though!!

Very disappointed in the product. The coasters I received looked nothing like the picture the four were more of a red color with straight lines running through. I am sure they will absorb any moisture, but they are too ugly to use! They were packaged well and delivered as promised, they just look nothing like the picture.

The color is very pink and it doesn't look like the wood grain in the photo. Not what I expected at all.

After much work I finally finished a Big furniture project and it came out perfect. French Country, beautiful chalk finish which even though I sealed with a matt poly I still insisted on using coasters in there. My daughter came for the weekend and actually Used the coasters I bought and to my Horror the cork from the gd coaster STAINED the night table!!I tried multiple cleaners on it and it won't budge even a fraction and I'll have to paint it since anything stronger to remove the stain would just ruin the table anyways. This is a first for me, I've used stone coasters for years because I hate it when I pick up a glass and a coaster sticks to the bottom of the glass then will fall and crash half way up to taking a swig and scare the...But a coaster that Stains? Yep, a first.

These look very nice but the condensation soaked all the way through the cork base and ruined my coffee table...

coasters are pretty when you get them but are useless....doesn't absorb moisture like it says and turns a dark color resembling mold....futile to clean....save your money!!!

Excellent design, but they are very fragile. The coasters haven't been dropped, but one has developed a crack down the middle.

Since I can't seem to get the right product, I'm pretty unhappy. Ordered once, got the wrong item (some woodgrain pattern, not dogwood). Sent a message to customer service who sent out again while I went to the trouble to return the wrong ones. New ones arrive, still the incorrect pattern. I'm returning for a refund. So frustrated, you would think having a complaint would make them look more closely at what they are sending but I guess not. Horrible experience.

Very disappointed in this product. Using only clear glasses, there has been a dirty ring on the coasters - this happened after the first few uses and has gotten worse. Would not order this coaster set.

Most did not survive the week.

Leaves water stains on the coasters. Other thirstystone don't.

The image chosen for this product, at least as of 10/24/16, is deeply dishonest about the product you are almost certainly going to get.It might be alright with you (and it's really not a deal-breaker for me), but just beware that you are going to get very plain-patterned light beige coasters. You can roll the dice if you like, but you are not going to get any kind of swirly, almost 3D waves on your coasters.Because the vendor surely knows this, and chose that image anyway, I'm one-starring this.

Simply disappointing... sticks to glass.

The glass condensation runs right through the coaster. When I first received these I was so excited because they looked nice and matched my decor, but I quickly realized they weren't as described; the top of my table, which I have had for 20 years mark free, had a perfectly round white ring on it.

Mine came with a stain on it. ??? Ugh.But they work great.

At first they worked great. Ordered in the winter time and never had much of an issue. Now summer has set in and I am lucky to get 20 minutes of the product working. They now puddle up very fast making them no better then any other coaster.