69% of 113 verified owners recommend the Comandante C40 MK4, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. YouTube is shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
“it gives you a lifelong experience, has an outstanding build quality, provides infallible consistency”
“I still have my C40, but now I have a ZP6 and prefer that for hand grinding.”
“Spending $300 for a C40 doesn't make a lot of sense anymore”
“It doesn’t change the fact that it is a good grinder. It’s just past its era.”
“it's a grinder for life and not like a smartphone for two years”
“300$ hand grinder, internal adjustment and I need to buy an upgrade kit to actually use it?”
“the Commandante would unfortunately be a tough sell for me”
“If I could do it over again I would have bought a JX”
“Biggest selling for me was the fact, that you can get so many recipes for C40”
“I personally don't have the palette or need for the slight improvement in taste that may come with the C40.”
“I think the grinder is worth the money in terms of longevity.”
“doesn't worth it at all”
“every time I come back to it I’m pleased with the brews even though it means a longer grind time.”
“Did you say some people prefer the interbal adjustment where you gotta count the clicks? That seems crazy!”
“I love its taste, but i just hate counting clicks.”
“its been the most amazing purchase”
“it taste richer than C40; it feels way premium than C40”
“I don't really like the plastic container because it made more statics.”
“I ended up with the c40, because of design and brand, and price, really, even though i understand the 1zpresso is better.”
“imo nobody should buy this thing anymore”
“I got a C40 a year ago. Great grinder”
“I think Comandante grinders are some of the best hand grinders available.”
“1zpresso basically killed the C40.”
“it's the best coffee purchase I've made”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
“Think I just need to adjust my expectations when it comes to draw down times. I'm at 4 minutes with 30g and it still tastes under-extracted so I trim I need to grinder finer still.”
“Their marketing pitch about "specializing in high-density beans", at same time J-Max struggles with those. It also helped that the Hammerhead is one of my favorite animals...”
“I’ve been grinding so coarse because any time I grind finer, I get an insane amount of bitterness. Im pretty sure that this coarseness (62 red clicks) is me compensating for the additional fines”
“It looks like your grind is way too course from the picture. If it’s that course you’re just going to have bean chunks and fines. Try grinding roughly the consistency of coarse sand or coarse salt.”
“Cool , this is is how commandatnte grinders should look out of the box by now. The external click upgrade looks great , this was the reason i never got a commandante since internal clicks annoyed me”
“Your J-Max was seasoned for 3+ years, and your C40 probably didn't even go through 1kg in a month. The pretext of the comparison is not fair, but I'm surprised you still chose C40 at the current state.”
“With a strongly light-roasted coffee, a Hario 1200ml and good-quality water (1200ml/80g, 1:15, 14–16 hours at room temperature), the C40 RC settings are 60 clicks (or 58 for acidity, or 62 for sweetness).”
“Maybe try to adjust the temp down, add a splash of water to the kettle after boiling for example or wait a few seconds for the water to slightly cool down”
“Are you sure your coffee is freshly roasted? Some beans are impossible to use for espresso after 1-2 month, especially decaff. Other beans can go for months without needing large changes in the grind setting.”
“I just bought the C60 because I’m an engineer and I value completely overbuilt well manufactured things, and the C60 is very much one of those things.”
“What do you mean by "choke"? Why whould you want the machine to choke? Grinding that fine GUARANTEES channeling, thats why youre getting low pressures”
“These days, I just got mine win American Cherry (up charge) for $315 from Brewtoria Coffee in Michigan with free shipping Excited to get a decent grinder! I’ve been using a mortar and pestle 😅 like the old world”
“My guess is that your problem is channeling. When you grind too fine (and 4 Redclix is way too fine), then it is more likely that channels develop.”
“Easily tell the difference between ZP6 and c40. Not better/worse, but distinctly different. Blind against a K-U would stump a lot more people.”
“This week I've been grinding extra fine from my usual mid course grind. And I've been getting much more clarity out of the cup. So in reality you should stop looking at the muddiness but only pay attention to the taste.”
“My pucks are practically smooth looking on the surface. The coffee grounds before becoming espresso should be kind of like powdered sugar. Think a non dusty powered sugar. Yours look like it still has pretty big pieces?”
“Thanks for your response. Even with red clix Comandante is gonna be around 50€ cheaper for me, give or take. I’m probably gonna get it tbh.”
“I think this is debatable, as I prefer the internal adjustment after easily damaging a 1zpresso. That being said, I think the best adjustment system is Kinu, its protected from falls and easy to dial and see where youre at”
“Have you tried with higher dose? I ve always struggle to get good shot if I am using 15g of coffee, I need at least 18g to get good shot.”
“This is something you have to do if you ever want to install redclix, and I even take my grinder apart to deep clean the burrset (they sell a brush but I use a dedicated toothbrush) and interior if I am changing coffees/etc.”
“Comandante haven’t made any public statements regarding this and when asked about it at WOC they totally denies all allegations that claim comandante went after small businesses and retailers that sold 1zpresso grinders etc.”
“FWIW, the trailmaster is very convenient to carry around & is a lot easier to grip because of its width! That's the one thing I prefer on the ZP6. That, and that the beans don't move around too much in the chamber vs. the C40.”
“Will try this later/tomorrow. Just did 2 shots with 16 grams trying to choke my Robot, maxed out at 6 bar.. Paul & others use 14.5.”
“That's not a premium price. C40 costs the same money as a cheap Kinu or half the price of a normal Kinu. Both are made in Europe.”