Comandante C40 Grind Settings Chart

These are starting points; beans, roast and brewer each move the right number. Our coffee grind size chart explains how grind size changes extraction, and the coffee grind size calculator gives a quick starting point for any brewer.

The C40 adjusts with a numbered wheel under the burr, at the bottom of the grinder. You remove the catch jar, turn the wheel, and count clicks from zero. Each standard click is roughly 30 microns, a fairly large step by hand-grinder standards.

That step size is ideal for filter coffee, where one or two clicks is a meaningful but not dramatic change. For espresso it's coarse: a single click can move a shot several seconds. That's why many espresso users fit the Red Clix axle.

In practice most owners settle on a few regular settings: around 10 for espresso, 18 for AeroPress, 24 for pour-over and 30 for French press. Learning those four and moving a click either way as beans change covers nearly everything you'll brew at home. Write them down, along with which axle you use, so recipes stay repeatable if you ever add Red Clix.

1. 1

   Empty the grinder and fit the handle.

2. 2

   Hold the handle horizontally at nine o'clock.

3. 3

   Close the adjustment gently, click by click, until the handle no longer falls on its own toward six o'clock.

4. 4

   That setting is zero. Open the adjustment and count clicks to your recipe.

Never force the burrs together. Zero can shift slightly after cleaning, so re-check it if familiar settings suddenly taste different.

Red Clix is an optional replacement axle that roughly halves the size of each click. That gives finer control for espresso, but it means every click count roughly doubles: a standard 24-click pour-over becomes around 48 on Red Clix.

Shared settings online don't always say which axle they use. If a recipe looks wildly fine or coarse, check whether it was written for Red Clix before changing anything else.

1. 1

   Weigh your dose, for example 15g for a 250g cup.

2. 2

   Start at 24 clicks for a V60.

3. 3

   Brew and time it; aim for roughly 2:30–3:30 for a single cup.

4. 4

   Sour or fast: go 1–2 clicks finer. Bitter or slow: go 1–2 clicks coarser.

5. 5

   Keep the setting once the cup tastes balanced.

Keep the dose steady with our coffee ratio calculator. For espresso, start at 10 clicks and follow our espresso dial-in guide; if shots won't sweeten, see sour espresso fixes. Pressurized baskets want a slightly coarser grind; see pressurized vs non-pressurized baskets.

Taste first, then use brew time as a check. Change one thing at a time, and if one move doesn't fix it, look at dose and ratio before going further on the grind.

Remove the catch jar, turn the wheel to your new click count and grind. Because the C40 holds very little coffee inside, there's no need to purge between methods. Counting from zero each time avoids drift, but with practice you can count up or down from your last setting.

Write your regular settings down. It turns a switch into a few seconds of counting rather than a fresh dial-in.

Most "my grinder changed" moments come down to one of these. Fix the basics first, then adjust. A note on your phone with your setting for each bag and brewer saves a lot of re-dialing.

Batch size changes the right setting. A large pour-over or a full Chemex keeps water in the grounds longer than a single cup, so it extracts more; one or two clicks coarser usually balances it. For a single small cup, go a click finer.

Water matters too. Very soft or very hard water shifts extraction enough that the same click count tastes different in another kitchen, which is one more reason to treat shared settings as starting points.

Filter settings are quick and smooth: a 15–20g pour-over dose takes well under a minute of steady turning. Espresso settings take noticeably longer and need more effort, because the burrs are closer together and each turn moves less coffee.

If you grind espresso every day, that effort is the trade-off of a hand grinder. Our manual vs electric grinders guide explains when an electric grinder is worth the extra cost for daily espresso.

• Brush the burrs regularly. Old grounds and oils change how coffee flows.
• Avoid water on the burrs unless you dry them fully.
• Re-check zero after cleaning.
• Don't overfill. Grind larger batches in two rounds.

Comparing hand grinders? See our manual vs electric grinders guide and the guide to choosing a burr grinder.