They just have too much taste condensed into a tiny sphere, like mass in a white dwarf star. Grinding them down actually extends their surface area and if you were to toss the ground pepper in the air you’d create a haze of taste that may or may not cause a burning sensation in your eyes and respiratory system
xkcd #2893: Sphere Tastiness ( imgs.xkcd.com )
xkcd.com/2893/...