Londinium Distribution Tool

#1: Post by **Ysching87** » February 26th, 2019, 7:59 am

For anyone bought the Londinium Distribution Tool, given another chance would you buy it again?

For those who know of this and decided to pass, what is your reason? I know price is a huge factor

but I want to see if there any other reasons.

I've heard others using toothpick or paper clips instead.

#2: Post by **maxbmello** » February 26th, 2019, 8:34 am

I love mine, and has made a dramatic improvement in consistency of pours. With a vst basket on bottomless pf, I would get occasional dead spots and spritzers with both my k30 and kinu m68 using a cocktail whisk for wdt.

For whatever reason, the Londinium tool works amazingly, and would buy again. It might be expensive for what it is, but in the scheme of other espresso equipment, is affordable especially for the increase in quality of pours.

#3: Post by **Iowa_Boy** » February 26th, 2019, 8:41 am

Just shipping price holding me back. I would be interested in a group buy if anyone else is interested.

February 26th, 2019, 11:08 am

I just checked mine... it's going to cost another 25 pounds to ship it to my country

#5: Post by **JayBeck** » February 26th, 2019, 11:09 am

I have both it and the Kafatek tool. I had hoped the Londinium tool would work better. I'm not sure I have noticed a difference between the two in my pours. Londinium might be slightly easier to use, it certainly looks better (wood end), and is certainly easier to move grounds around with (Kafatek style breaks up clumps but without those circles it's harder to really move the grinds around).

I've used the Kafatek tool for over a year and the Londinium now for 2 weeks. I'd call my opinion at this time still 'initial impressions' as I don't have enough long term use over a large variety of coffees yet to make a definitive statement.

But as of right now, I would say performance is very close with the styling nod to Londinium. So look at pricing. If you can't get it in a group buy, you're going to pay around $80 for the Londinium tool vs around $25 for the Kafatek tool. My Kafatek tool fits perfectly in my Decent Tamping Cradle beside my funnel whereas the Londinium tool has to stand on the counter. At these pricing propositions I'd definitely say it's not worth the extra $50+. However, if you can get on a group buy and essentially remove the cost of shipping, you can cut that gap in half. At $25 vs $50, it might be worth the little extra money for the 'cool' factor over the Kafatek tool.

TL;DR -- I don't think the PERFORMANCE materially exceeds other WDT stirring devices, like the one Kafatek sells. So I would base the decision down to looks / styling and whether or not $25-50 more is worth it to you to have a very attractive tool vs one that is very utilitarian.

#6: Post by **johnny4lsu** » February 26th, 2019, 11:14 am

I'm really enjoying mine. Way more consistency. I wasn't using any tool before this.

#7: Post by **Shawnaks5** » February 27th, 2019, 12:56 pm

I really like mine. I recently purchased it via a group buy here on HB. I know I am not as experienced as a lot of people here on HB but I can definitely see a difference. I only have a Rok espresso machine so I don't know how different it would be on other types of machines. I've noticed less spritzing and more crema and overall a better taste. I'm using a Kinu M47 grinder which I believe does a great job for espresso so I was pleasantly surprised to see this tool help out even more. I'm not sure I would have bought it had it not been available on a group buy. The shipping is pretty high. However If I had a semi-automatic machine I would probably not think twice about it. I like this tool and definitely think it's worth it! I'm interested in trying the Kafatek one as well.

February 27th, 2019, 10:44 pm

All these feedback is making me curious to get one myself.... anyone looking for a group buy? I'm staying in Brunei so I'm not sure if they are willing to compile the shipping charges

#9: Post by **Iowa_Boy** » February 27th, 2019, 11:39 pm

Well, decided I needed to give these a try, as all the reviews seem great.
Ordered 4 extra so will be selling those off on the Buy/Sell forum once they arrive. Excited to see how well this works!

#10: Post by **Beewee** » February 28th, 2019, 12:26 am

I recently bought two mainly because I really liked the tool that came with the Helor Stance Motor which is nearly identical but has 4 wires instead of 3, and has a plastic handle instead of wood. The reason I bought two was that I wanted the nice wood handle and I wanted a spare incase I broke or lost the original. Overall both the Helor version and the Londinium version works equally well. I prefer the look of the Londinium but prefer the slightly smaller size of the Helor version.