Typical. Since lot of people are spewing their idea as general publics, let me do same. Lance, WE enjoy your productions and appreciate it.

I do appreciate a lot of the coffee YouTubers such as Lance and James Hoffman. I think they bring a lot of good discussion, and do give me some insights into purchases where I would not have a frame of reference. Also, they can just be entertaining.

With that said I do think there are some people on there who are simply trying to make a buck or receive some free items. My eyebrows raise a little bit when I have reading a review or watching a video and someone mentions, "well I haven't reviewed this yet because no matter how many times I begged for a review unit no one answered." Really?

In the past, it was rather normal for people who reviewed stuff to have been loaned or for those with enough clout to just be given stuff in the hopes it would get reviewed. I was lucky enough to have been a BIX moderator in my past and spent a couple of evenings at Chaos Manor with Jerry Pournell and the other Los Angeles area moderators. He was at the time one of the most influential writers in the personal computer space and was showered with products. He had a table piled with stuff he was done with or never going to look at that he'd let us take stuff from as he was just going to throw it away. That's a much bigger space, but if a positive review from someone means sales, don't be surprised if they get free products. Unless they tell you otherwise, assume the worst.

I had the impression that in the last few years, there has been a too "scientific" and "technical" escalation in every reviews, not only from the youtubers, maybe it's a necessity to maintain a good interest around the matter, but i think that the majority of the public, they prefer something more funny than a scientific lesson, or at least something with a balanced proportion in the content.

I do wish coffee YouTube wasn't as focused on the next new fancy product. I think Hoffman comes up with the best content that isn't necessarily tied back to a deal or a new product. His latest video with the modded vintage lever machine was a great watch that wasn't trying to sell me a new product.

I initially thought the same about Lance revisiting the Bambino until half way through he pulled out his line of portafilters and accessories for it that were conveniently mounted in the side of his review unit. The reason for the video was then transparent

There is a line between needing to make some money and do advertisements or product reviews and doing fun stuff that isn't tied to any particular marketing push. Coffee YouTube seems to lean more toward the new gear and latest marketing more so than random fun stuff.

Tbh those have been for sale for like 2 years and I never post about them. I ONLY brought them up because the person making them asked me to. I have not been paid a cent for that line. I'm sure I'll get something at some point, but boiling down my video to just that is absurd.
If I was worried about making money, I would take all the deals that come my way. I've said not to literal hundreds of thousands from companies just wanting to slap my name on their product. It's annoying still having these implications thrown around when I've literally said no to so many financial opportunities. I literally work a 40-50 hour/week job AND consult in order to not rely on youtube. I didn't even start taking sponsors until this year (hoffmann, for example; took them much earlier than I and had hired a team by the time he was at 100k). Im trying my best
For transparency, because people think I get everything free- I just filed taxes and I spent a whopping $42,000 on youtube last year. I made roughly enough between youtube and patreon to pay me back for that and cover taxes. As Long as this side thing breaks even, I'm happy.

I've been planning to get one of those portakeepers to put on the side of my machine for my spare portafilter w/ blank for back washing. It's a good idea. I've got his paper filter holders and they're great.

Lancehedrick wrote: Tbh those have been for sale for like 2 years and I never post about them. I ONLY brought them up because the person making them asked me to. I have not been paid a cent for that line. I'm sure I'll get something at some point, but boiling down my video to just that is absurd.
If I was worried about making money, I would take all the deals that come my way. I've said not to literal hundreds of thousands from companies just wanting to slap my name on their product. It's annoying still having these implications thrown around when I've literally said no to so many financial opportunities. I literally work a 40-50 hour/week job AND consult in order to not rely on youtube. I didn't even start taking sponsors until this year (hoffmann, for example; took them much earlier than I and had hired a team by the time he was at 100k). Im trying my best
For transparency, because people think I get everything free- I just filed taxes and I spent a whopping $42,000 on youtube last year. I made roughly enough between youtube and patreon to pay me back for that and cover taxes. As Long as this side thing breaks even, I'm happy.

I do apologize if the accessories were not some portion of the reason to review the Bambino. It is honestly what crossed my mind when they were pulled out (in similar fashion to Ron Burgandy's flute.) Perhaps it is my cynical take on most of the content on YouTube and not fairly directed toward you specifically. I do think it is neat how you engage with your audience. Ad placement or not, I enjoy your content and wish you well.

This video summarizes coffee products and other device reviewers:

Acavia wrote:This video summarizes coffee products and other device reviewers:

How so? Commerce is necessary and good. Ren's talking about something more nefarious.
And, while I dig Ren and agree with his implications toward corrupt politics, I don't agree with the characterization of consumers as victims. I'm sorry but I have my own agency and ability to discern and make informed purchasing decisions. Nobody is forcing me to buy anything that I don't want to buy.