From Oslo pram guy to the teenage vacuum expert: inside the obsessive world of niche online reviewers

Wade can tell you the best pram for a tall parent; Matthew knows which cleaner has superior suction power. But how do you become a respected reviewer on the wild west of the internet?

Once a month, every month, more than 8,000 strangers pay James Hoffmann a total of 16,263 so he can go out and buy coffee machines. Hoffmann, 41, from London, is an author, business owner, coffee connoisseur and, above all, a YouTuber: more than 900,000 people subscribe to his channel, on which he discusses everything to do with beans and brewing. Around a third of Hoffmann's videos are product reviews: grinders, espresso machines, storage canisters and filters have all been scrutinised by him.

Hoffmann's monthly 16,000 comes from Patreon, a membership platform that allows fans to pay creators a regular fee. The money is intended to keep him impartial: it enables him to buy machines to review directly - just like you or me - instead of getting them on loan from brands.