Comandante is known for their high quality and precise coffee hand grinders. With their current offerings showcasing both full metal grinders as well as stainless steel body with a full real wood veneer.
Over time the Comandante C40 Mk3 has had a range of wooden grinders that are currently no longer made, this includes grinders such as the 'Zebra', 'Chocolate Fineline' and 'Wenge'. The reason for this explained to us is that the new MK4 model grinders are now made from ethically soured wood and that while the previous models were beautiful they did not fit into this new change.
Currently at the time of writing this the Comandante grinders available are 'American Cherry', 'Liquid Amber', Virginia Walnut', 'Black', 'Alpine Lagoon', 'Copper Mountain' and 'Sunset'. Out of the Seven grinders listed, 3 ('American Cherry', 'Liquid Amber' & 'Virginia Walnut') are made with a wooden finish.
Recently Comandante have released the Trailmaster X25, this grind is priced similarly to the MK4 however features a full plastic body and appeals to the coffee traveller.
Comandante MK4 Features:
Comandante grinders are well known for having a full wooded finish, branded with Comandante's logo and paired with the wooden handle.
Comandante paved the way for quality travel coffee hand grinders and while not a huge amount has changed of the design it still is one of the most trusted brands in the coffee hand grinder market.
The high nitrogen stainless steel burr set is hardened and precise, the 39mm burr set geometry has had a ton of research put into it and remains a competitive designed burr set as more competitors arise.
The double bearings housed around the axle create a smooth enjoyable rotation that makes grinding super easy and quick.
Being a hand grinder, you can take this grinder with you wherever you travel.
Stepped grinding is repeatable and recipes can be shared with any other Comandante user.
Pros:
|
Cons: |
|
High quality |
Size, the Comandante is a girthy boy |
|
Stepped grind size adjustment, sharable recipes with any Comandante grinder. |
Stepped grind size adjustment, less adjustments that stepless. |
|
For such a nice hand grinder, you may not want to travel with it. |
Price point is high |
| Dual bearings makes grinding very smooth. | Axle mounted burrs tend to be more aligned than this design. |
| Hefty and solid grinder | Heavy for travel (600g) |
| 39mm Hardened Nitrogen SS Burr Set | No replacement burrs available |
Starting clicks for these brew methods:
- Turkish coffee at <5 clicks
- Espresso at 3-8 clicks
- AeroPress & Pour-over at 10-25 clicks
- Cupping at 25-30 clicks
- French press and Cold brew at 30+ clicks
Pricepoint:
Comandante is known for quality and while you are guaranteed an exceptionally high quality grinder with fantastic packaging this grinder might not be the best coffee grinder.
With more and more competition making exceptional grinders with much competitive prices, there is that question of whether or not the Comandante MK4 is still worth it in 2023.
Is Comandante Still Worth it in 2023?