Do you prefer comandante or any electric grinder at the same price point (for 1 or 2 serving of pour over only per day)?

Q&A
1

Hi Guys,
Been reading a lot of good reviews of comandante, some even compare the consistency to EK43.
I am new to manual brewing at home, just got the Hario Slim but I can’t get the taste that I want from the coffee, way to bitter, I ask one of my barista friend that is because the grinder. I have tried to change the setting in the Hario but it is still hard to get clean, tasty coffee.(would love to hear some tips to revive this grinder if possible :smile:)

I decided to buy a good grinder, at first Im thinking about electric ones, but I read a lot of good reviews of comandante. How is it compare to electric grinder at the same price point in terms of consistency and ability to grind at pour over size? ( I dont really care about other feature that electric grinder has and I dont mind grinding manually). And if the comandante is that good and consistent, what price point or what electric grinder should it be compared to? (just in terms of consistency for pour over and stepping aside features that electric may have, because I just grind max 12 to 24 gr a day)

Thank you

2

Hello, I’m using both grinder (Comandante and Wilfa Electrical Grinder)
I’ve been using comandante for 1 yr, and personally I found that the consistency is better than the Wilfa electrical grinder. Of course not to compare with EK43, but to compare with a home electrical grinder, I think comandante is a completely perfect home grinder. To grind 20g can just get a reasonable amount of time to finish it.
At least you will hardly see the inconsistent size of ground coffee from comandante.
I think if you’ve read a lot of reviews about comandante, most people mentioned you won’t go wrong with it.
Besides,my wilfa electrical grinder produced uneven grind size, which really pissed me off! And then if I happen to brew an expensive geisha, i will switch to Comandante, no point to throw the coffee into Electrical grinder and I would get geisha coffee in the uneven grind size. ha-ha.

My satisfactionm rating by using both grinder:
Comandante: 4.5/5.0 (you need to use strength to Grind)
Wilfa Electrical Grriner: 3.5/5.0 (inconsistent grind size)

Hope this help you.

3

For years I used an early Baratza grinder, their precursor to the Encore. Great mill. But when I became a dealer for them I decided to pass the “antique” along and put a new one into service… first the Encore then when they came available, the Setté 270 (I haev both burr sets). For my own use at home, when I brew Aeropress or French press (one or more to serve?) I mostly use an antique DeVe wooden box mill from Holland, made about 1960. Grind particle size is close in evenness to the Encore. The Sette beats it by a little bit, but not signficantly. I take that old mill everywhere… and use it daily, multiple times. I even brew (French press) for smaller events and still grind with the old Dutch one. It weighs just over a kilo, disappears into the rack top bag on my bicycle, I’ve taken it sailing, camping, on week long missions trips. I often hve kids BEG me to let THEM turn the crank, and my VERY young friend Clara (three years old and as persistent a child as I’ve ever met) insists on turning the handle for me when I’m at their home and make coffee for her folks. Yes, that tiny little three year old keeps atit until the crank turns free.

When I’m providing coffee for a large crowd at an event (I’ve done multiple day all day events for hundreds before) the Setté with the BG burrs really shines… 100 gramme lots for the big batch brewer are no challenge, and I am thankful I do not have to turn that long copper crank handle on the old De Ve twenty or thirty times a day. but, when I decide to hand brew for “special” folks, (I’m on that list, too) the De Ve is picked up from its place on the brew bar, and pressed into service.
Most of the higher end German and Dutch coffee mills from mid-last century use high carbon tool steel, the burrs are grouund to high precision, and after a few hundred pounds through myold De Ve I still can’t see a hint of wear on that steel. Mine came from an eBay seller in Germany, had it shipped acorss. Had it for ten years or ore now.

1 Like
4

thank you for replying, really helpful.
i also find this link about Proud Mary Melbourne doing blind test between EK43 vs commandante

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5

Hi Tio Nico,
thank you for the reply and the story.
so you are implying that commandante would be a very good grinder and last a long time, right?
what amaze me the most is that you are still using De Ve for special coffee ahead of the Sette.

6

HI there Ferry

I did look into the Comandante, and from what I can see of how it is made and of what, yes, I’ve little doubt your grandchildren would still be trying to wear it out.

While the Sette is wonderful, and I do use it when appropriate, you must understand it is rather large and heavy. The old De Ve weighs close to a kilo, and measures about 12 cm cube.Thus it can, and does, go everywhere. Tomorrow I’ll be bring it along as I cycle to join a small informal gathering to honour a couple we all know who recentl married on the other side the country and are out this side visiting. I’ll have an electric kettle, a 1.5 litre French press, a tiny scale, and a Pacamara COE winner along with a recently discovered and very delightful Pluma de Oaxaca. We SHALL have excellent coffee throughout the afternoon and evening.

During that multiday film fest, we did have the two Curtis machines pouring out the batch brewed coffee, but from time to time I did brew by hand in the French press… and rather than change, then rechange, the grind adjustment on thhe Setté I’d just weigh out for the press, then pop it into the old De Ve. That left the Setté free to do as needed for the main brew bar.

If you’ve never used a good hand grinder you may be amused to learn that there reall IS someting different about using a small hand powered instrument in place of a noisey push-the-button one. Some sort of a connexio, personal involvement, tha tactile hands on thing, wierd I know, but it is soothing, calming, maybe it even helps prepare us for the sensory delight of the coffee once its done. When it is part of the process, it tends to relax, draw you in, you become more a part of the process. Yeah, funny stuff, but I really do ENJOY using that thing, as well as the results from its use. Maybe it also pleases me so much more because I’ve already got MY hands on the restof the process from the jute bag to the cup. I roast my own, as well, using a small hand-controlled gas drum roaster. It is all together part of the rhythm of my day. Yeah, maybe I’m going all wistful and zen, but I don’t even think of it as anything strange.

Tio

7

Hi Tio Nico,

Thank you for the story. your choices of word are very beautiful,haha…
Definitely going to get the hand grinders before later moving on to the electric ones.
I wish someday I could get hands on De Ve products.

8

Learn enough German to be able to figure it out, then go onto eBay Germany and see what is there. What I got was never shipped to North America. I’ve only seen two… the one I use daily (drinking that Pluma de Oaxaca right now, ground up by that) and one other I managed to find in Holland on eBay. International wire transfer, shipping, wait, here it is. You might also try England, and most dealers in Holland publish in english. Switzerland, too. France and Germany, not so much.

Just what you always wanted to do, though, learn German, right?

9

learn German or just using google translate,haha

Thank you for the information :slight_smile:

10

Commandante is really great! Hard to beat for the price.

The baratza virtuoso preciso is a pretty decent electric grinder. Grind quality is similar to commandante and in the same price range.

The feldgrind is another hand grinder that has top notch grind quality.

You cant expect these to have the exact same grind uniformity as the ek43, but you will certainly be able to brew excellent coffee nonetheless.