The Three Burr Options - Which Is Right for You?
Nitro Blade - The All-Rounder
The original Comandante burr geometry. Nitro Blade is a balanced, versatile design suited to all brewing methods - from espresso to filter to AeroPress. It is the natural choice for anyone who brews across multiple methods, wants a single grinder that does everything exceptionally well, or is new to the Comandante ecosystem.
Hammerhead - Density, Sweetness and Fruit Clarity
Hammerhead was born from an obsession. Bernd Braune was working with a lot of Yellow Pacamara beans - large, dense, uniquely complex - and discovered that standard burr geometry couldn't fully unlock their flavour. So he designed something new: a Hexagonal Block Blade geometry, inspired by the distinctive shape of the hammerhead shark, engineered to handle the size and density of larger beans with remarkable precision. Over years of refinement, Hammerhead evolved into a versatile, high-performance burr that delivers dense, juicy sweetness and defined fruit clarity - particularly suited to complex, full-bodied coffees and medium-to-dark roasts.
Tigershark - Clarity and Efficiency for Light Roasts
Tigershark is the Lab Series option optimised for maximum clarity and grinding efficiency, particularly suited to light roast specialty coffees and modern filter brewing. Its burr geometry is engineered to maximise flavour separation and extraction clarity in pour-over, V60, Chemex, and similar methods, making it the natural choice for third-wave specialty coffee enthusiasts who primarily brew filter with light or medium-light roasts.
What Makes the Lab Series Different from the Standard C40?
The Lab Series is mechanically identical to the standard C40 Mk4 - same body, same materials, same calibration - but offers burr options that go beyond the standard Nitro Blade. This matters because burr geometry has a direct and significant impact on grind particle distribution, which in turn shapes flavour, body, clarity, and extraction character. Comandante developed the Bavarian Burr Lab specifically to explore and refine these geometry differences at a level previously only accessible in professional research settings.
• Nitro Rex custom Alpine steel burrs
over 17% chromium with vanadium, molybdenum, and micro-alloys; fine homogeneous matrix structure; flavour-neutral and corrosion-resistant; built to last a lifetime
• QTP high-performance techno-polymer body
quartz nanoparticle-reinforced long-chain polymer; food-safe, water-resistant, as strong as it looks
• Floating cone burr design
deliberate flexibility on the axle for self-centring during grinding; hand-aligned with three precision mounting screws at Comandante HQ
• Stepped click grind adjustment
count clicks from zero; magnetic crank for easy removal and reassembly
• Includes two Bean Jars
one brown borosilicate glass jar and one near-unbreakable clear polymer jar, 40g capacity each
• Made in Germany
designed, machined, assembled and calibrated by hand at Comandante HQ
Recommended Grind Settings (Starting Points)
• 7–13 clicks - Espresso
• 14–20 clicks - Moka pot / stovetop
• 18–35 clicks - Pour-over filter (V60, Chemex, Kalita)
• 25–35 clicks - French press and cupping
• 3–8 clicks - Ibrik / Turkish coffee
Who Is the Comandante C40 MK4 For?
Specialty coffee enthusiasts who know their preferred brewing style and want a burr geometry matched to it
Filter-focused brewers working with light roasts who want maximum clarity - Tigershark
Lovers of complex, full-bodied filter and manual brewing who favour sweetness and fruit character - Hammerhead
All-round home baristas who brew both espresso and filter - Nitro Blade
Competition baristas and enthusiasts who want to experiment at the level the Bavarian Burr Lab was built for
