I tested this famous $300 hand-crank coffee grinder — and it's worth every penny

The Comandante C40 MK4 is one of the most renowned hand-powered coffee grinders in the world. Although most of the best coffee grinders are powered by electricity, some are powered by nothing more than my own brute strength.

Don’t think hand-powered grinders are necessarily cheaper than electrified grinders — not in the case of the Comandante C40 MK4, anyway. This absolute engineering beauty will cost you upwards of $277. The model I tested is a whopping $323. However, I can see why it’s so pricey.

The build quality is off-the-charts. Every aspect of the grinder is clever, considered, and purposeful, and it works a charm. With a 40-click range (extendable with an additional $50 purchase), I was able to get coffee fine enough for Turkish, and coarse enough for French press.

So is the ~$300 price justified? Find out in this Comandante C40 MK4 review.

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Cheat sheet

• Who is it for? Coffee lovers, given that price
• What does it do well? It just works so darn perfectly
• What does it cost? From $277 / from £239
• What are its weaknesses? I hate how expensive it is, but I do see why — its build quality is incomparable

Comandante C40 MK4: Specs

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Price & availability

The Comandante C40 MK4 is priced differently based on what colorway you get, but the cheapest option is $277 from Amazon U.S. and £239 from Amazon U.K.. I tested the walnut version (which in my opinion is by far the prettiest), which will set you back $323 in the U.S. and £275 in the U.K..

Comandante also makes the C60 Baracuda and X25 Trailmaster grinders. If you thought the $277 C40 was pricey, wait until you see the $649 C60 Baracuda. It’s so pricey because it’s crafted from a single block of steel and has more durable burrs than the C40, apparently.

For coffee lovers and regular travelers, the $280 X25 is designed for on-the-go usage and weighs just 14.8 ounces (compared to the C40’s 13 pounds).

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Design

While I find Comandante’s general militaristic branding pretty cringeworthy, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that the C40 grinder is an absolute beauty. I have no reservations about naming this one of the most well-made, cleverly-designed, expertly-crafted gadgets I’ve ever used — that doesn’t just mean coffee gear. Everything.

The stainless steel body fits perfectly into the space between my thumb and index finger, as if it was designed with ergonomics in mind. The crank handle also perfectly fits my palm, again — it’s as though Comandante’s designers studied average hand measurements and designed their product based on that.

I have no proof for whether this is true, so take the above statement as nothing more than a coffee nerd waxing lyrical about a grinder.

At the bottom of the grinder body is the catch jar, which is made from glass. The C40 also comes with a second jar and lid for carrying grounds on the go.

If you remove the catch jar, you can access the grind adjustment dial. This is a three-pronged star, with indents that my fingertips fit in perfectly. To adjust grind, you press down and twist to the left or right. For burr cleaning, you would click completely counterclockwise and get a little brush inside.

The burrs themselves are 39mm and constructed of high-nitrogen stainless steel, which means the burrs are a little more capable of withstanding pressure and erosion.

I tested the walnut colorway, which would’ve been my choice had I been purchasing this for myself. I will mention that it scratches quite easily, which is annoying, but these scratches are very superficial.

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Grind adjustment

The Comandante C40 MK4 has a 40-click grind dial, as you might have guessed from the name. You can purchase Comandante’s grind extender, Red Clix, for $49. Red Clix is basically a more precise grind adjustment, and changes the C40’s dial from 25-30 microns (μm) to 15μm. However, this requires an extra $50 and may not be necessary given the already plentiful adjustment on offer.

Right out of the box without the additional purchase of Red Clix, each click is between 25-30 μm), which is still smaller than the Wacaco Exagrind’s 33μm.

To adjust the grind, you have to press down on the clicker with three fingers and turn it clockwise (finer) or anticlockwise (coarser). I appreciate the graphic that reminds you which direction to turn in.

Although this is standard on handheld grinders, I do wish there was a dial that told you which click you’re on. It gets pretty laborious clicking all the way to zero click and having to redial and count between brewing methods or uses.

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Performance

There are four main parameters by which I evaluate coffee grinders. One, ease of use. Two, static. Three, uniformity. Four, retention. I’ll discuss all three in depth here.

Ease of use

As this is a handheld, handpowered grinder, there’s no need to worry about finding counter space next to a plug socket. Simply dose your beans, dial your grind, and you’re good to go.

Take what I’m about to say with a pinch of salt — I’m embarrassingly weak. I can’t even lift a 10kg weight with one hand.

Grinding a brittle, hard roast bean to anything finer than about 20 clicks was really hard. I had to use my torso to get enough torque to turn the crank. However, when I gave the grinder to my coworker, he ground it without breaking a sweat.

If you’re weak like me, it’ll be a workout. Just stick with it — who knows, you might grow some muscles (my arm did hurt the day after I did most of my reference testing). Hand grinders are inherently hard work — that’s why motorized ones were invented.

Different beans will require a different level of exertion. Dark roast beans will be easier to grind, and unwashed beans harder. It’s difficult to quantify how hard each person will find each type of bean to grind.

However, grinding above 20 clicks was a breeze. While it still took a decent amount of time (about 3 minutes and 8 seconds for full capacity on 20 clicks), it’s all part of the routine. The physical exertion was actually quite cathartic.

As I mentioned in the ‘design’ section, I do wish there was a dial showing what click number I was at, just to make it a little more user friendly.

Static & clumping

Although I’ve yet to find a grinder that defies the laws of physics and grinds coffee with absolutely no static, I was still pretty impressed with the C40’s lack of static. Don’t get me wrong, it does still produce some static electricity, but nowhere near as much as the Baratza Encore I was testing at the same time.

As you might expect, the catch jar fits snugly onto the bottom of the grinder itself, so I was able to knock the grinder against my countertop to knock off much of the charged residue sticking to the sides.

To alleviate static, you could always spritz your beans with a little water before grinding, but you must use those beans immediately. The Varia VS3 (which suffers from a noticeable amount of static, especially during its 2KG break-in period), comes with a spritzing bottle for this very reason, so it’s an occupational hazard with coffee grinders.

Uniformity

One of the most important features of a grinder is uniformity. While some schools of thought believe that espresso tastes best with a somewhat inconsistent grind (as long as it’s espresso-fine of course, as it will result in more complex flavor, but I’m not subscribed to this school of thought), it’s widely accepted that pour-over requires an even grind.

If pour-over is made with an inconsistent grind, the finer particles will settle at the bottom and could clog the filter, while the coarser particles will float. This means the finer particles will be over extracted and bitter, while the coarser particles will barely affect the coffee’s overall flavor.

To test the Comandante C40 MK4’s uniformity, I ground 5g batches of coffee beans and passed the results through my Kruve coffee sifters. The percentage refers to how much of that 5g managed to get through each sieve at various grind setting (1 click is the finest setting).

As you can see, the grind is really consistent. This is what you want to see when testing particle consistency: big jumps from 0-90. If 300μm read 20%, 500μm read 30%, 800μm read 50%, 1100μm read 70%, and 1400μm read 100%, that shows an inconsistent grind.

This consistent grind means the Comandante C40 MK4 will reliably grind beans to your chosen size. I recommend this wholeheartedly for accuracy, and you can brew confidently, knowing your grind size is perfect.

Retention

To test retention, I ground a specific amount of beans and weighed the dosing container before and after grinding. I used my Wacaco Exagram Pro scale for testing. Between each test, I loosened, emptied, and cleaned the burrs and the container, and then reset to 20 clicks.

Here are my results.

As you can see from the results, the C40’s 2.75% retention is relatively low. However, there is still some retention. Although 0.4g won’t make much of a difference to your coffee, it’s worth knowing that you might want to empty out the burrs manually if you’re changing between grossly different beans, or changing brewing method.

I wouldn’t recommend filling the hopper to max capacity, as the catcher can’t hold it all. Obviously your chosen bean type will affect this — Ethiopian beans are teeny tiny, so more will fit in the hopper. Colombian beans tend to be quite big, so you’ll be able to fit less.

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Extra features

Given the premium price, you’d expect some premium features. While most of these features lie in aesthetics and customer experience rather than tangible coffeemaking, it’s still appreciated.

As I mentioned in the ‘design’ section, the C40 comes with a spare jar for transporting grounds, which is a nice touch. The box also includes a Comandante silicone wristband, but I can say for certain that I’ll never be wearing it thanks to its military branding and that, y’know, it isn’t 2004.

It would make much more sense for this to be a coffee bean keychain, even a coffee bean wristband, an actual coffee accessory like a Comandante logo sprinkles stencil, or something a little more… well, usable.

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Storage & maintenance

I would recommend the C40 for people in small apartments with limited kitchen space. Not all of us have room for a 10-inch grinder to occupy an entire countertop. The compact 6-inch height means the grinder will fit perfectly into cupboards or drawers between uses.

To maintain the burrs, Comandante sells a ‘Burr Care Set’, which only seems to be available in the U.K. via third party sellers like Coffee Omega. However, you could easily get a simple brush and ADDINOL White Oil, which is the main ingredient in Comandante’s Burr Care Set.

Even so, I would check with Comandante’s customer service team before purchasing anything third-party, as this could void your warranty.

Speaking of warranties, the warranty is 1 year in the U.K., although Comandante says its burrs should last a “lifetime” and if yours breaks, get in touch.

Comandante C40 MK4 review: Verdict

If you have $300 to spare and you want to get the best hand powered grinder on the market, then by all means, take my recommendation and add the Comandante C40 MK4 to your virtual basket right this second.

However, I know $300 is unattainable for a lot of people — in that case, I’d recommend the $119 Wacaco Exagrind I mentioned earlier. But for the cheaper price, you get a less premium product that has a tendency to clump and be a little inconsistent.

For consistency, reliability, and minimal retention, there’s nothing like the Comandante C40 MK4. If I could choose any hand grinder, and price wasn’t an issue, I’d choose this one.