Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker,Silver

I live in a tiny house so space saving is the game here. Delivery was normal and came intact. At first glance I was worried however over time this coffee machine is a compact efficient coffee maker. Its minimal, modern looks great without taking up much of my limited counter space. One thing that is a plus in my books is the removable water reservoir making refilling and cleaning much easier compared to other models where the tank is fixed.The filter cone sits directly inside the carafe, which helps streamline the unit and reduces the number of loose parts. The coffee it brews holds a consistent temperature, which gives a smooth, flavorful result for a machine of this size.In tiny house living you learn that prioritizing is important meaning letting go of some comforts. It doesn’t have an automatic shut-off feature however it makes up for speed when brewing only 5-cups. I dont mind the capacity but others might.Overall, the Zojirushi Zutto is a well-thought-out, reliable coffee maker for those who want something simple, space-saving, and effective. It’s ideal for a daily-use machine without the bells and whistles but still want good coffee with minimal fuss.

Joy to use. [Not needed but used # 2 paper filter.] Poured water up to "2" line. Added 2 rounded Tablespoon measures of ground coffee. Brewed quickly. Unplugged pot. Removed lid and filter. Poured coffee into my Ember cup. Delicious. Pot easy to clean and has small beautiful footprint on counter. Adore their small 12 oz lockable mugs as well and own many. Have owned their larger coffee brewer in the past and that was excellent also.

I bought this drip coffee maker after America's Test Kitchen recommended it due to the HOT water temp of 195-200 degrees when it drips over the grounds. It does make a good cup of coffee! I cut down on my coffee consumption this year (from 3 big 24 oz mugs/day to just 20-24 oz/day) and both my old 12 cup percolator and an old 10 cup drip coffee maker stopped working in the same month...so I needed something. I thought this small coffee maker would be just right now that I am not drinking as much coffee. I like that the water chamber comes out for easy filling or cleaning. This coffee maker makes 20 ounces of coffee per full "5 cup" pot and it is ready to drink in less than 10 min. The glass carafe feels thin and fragile so handle with care. The unit is sleek looking and petite. My OXO burr grinder towers over it as they are next to each other on the counter. One has to remember to turn off the unit after making coffee. I don't use the warming plate under the carafe since the entire carafe pours into one big mug, so that is automatic for me. I only give 4 stars because "5 cups" should be 30 ounces, not a mere 20. And the glass carafe could be more substantial. Other than that it is an attractive unit and produces good hot coffee.Update Dec 10, 2024 So after making one pot of coffee per day for 6-7 weeks, my coffee maker was getting slow and noisy. The little filter at the drip area is clogged with calcium and white sediment. I You can unscrew this filter part to replace it at extra cost....~$10. This would be expensive if I had to replace the filter every 6-8 weeks! I pried the filter piece open with a tiny screwdriver and washed out the 1.5 inch X 1.5 inch square of thin filter material. I decided to put the filter piece back together without the little square of filter material in the middle. I gave the coffee maker a descaling treatment with Urnex Dezcal descaling powder and the coffee brews quickly and quietly again. I don't think this extra bit of filter material makes a big difference. of course I do use a paper filter for my grounds and that will catch any hard water sediment.... the coffee tastes the same without it.

April 2022"I will never buy a coffee maker with a glass caraffe that sits on a warming burner." That's what I used to believe; and mostly I still do. But sometimes there are reasons to believe otherwise. After two weeks of daily use I've learned to manage this coffee machine's quirks. It's not the perfect coffeemaker if you are making coffee for a crowd; but if you are pleased to drink just one or two (small) cups at a time and are willing to be meticulous in dealing with it, this can be an excellent choice.Here's my story.Going from two pots of coffee a day to eight ounces of coffee a day can be difficult. I needed a little help from my coffee machine. I needed something that made sense of the idea of making two cups of coffee at a time. Few coffee machines do. The most distinct characteristic of this machine is that it is small. Its small footprint unclutters the counter just a bit, which I appreciate. I'm enough of a foodie that for great coffee if I had to buy a behomoth of a machine to make the perfect small cup of coffee, I would consider it. Until recently I would drink six or ten cups of coffee in a day, so a large machine worked for me.I've had maybe six pretty good coffee makers over the last two decades, and have grown pretty picky about coffee. I buy varietal beans, roast them, and grind them in a Baratza burr grinder with forty grind size settings. I've avoided coffee makers with a glass caraffes that rest in contact with a burner because leaving fresh brewed coffee on the burner always causes coffee to scorch. A vacuum insulated caraffe does not scorch. So that's what I've always bought.Never would I have considered the Zojirushi if I expected to brew more coffee than I would drink at one time. But that is exactly my use case for this coffee machine. If I drink all the coffee right after it brews, the burner can help the pot get up to temperature, meaning the coffee will not have to be reheated right after brewing - as I had been doing with my old coffee maker in order to get it to a good temperature for adding cream. I brew the coffee, serve it, and turn off the warming burner immediately. The one time I forgot to do this, I noticed that the clever engineers at Zojirushi had regulated the temperature of the burner to be low enough not to burn the coffee into horrid resin-smelling char.My first several batches out of this machine were weak and under-extracted. I noticed that brew time is short, about two minutes, and I ground my coffee finer. I tamp it lightly into the filter to create a little more flow resistance. These practices made a big difference. I also decided to preheat the water in a microwave until it is nearly boiling. This might slightly shorten the brew time it but, more importantly it increases the temperature of the water near the start of the cycle. Here at a mile above sea level I needed all the temperature I could get for such a short brew cycle. I also began the practice of adding a pinch of salt to the coffee grinds because coffee tastes less bitter with a little salt. Also coffee causes one to excrete salt; so there were health benefits to the practice.Once I had dialed in all the elements of the process I realized that I was making better coffee than I ever had before. I was paying a little more attention to the ritual of making it - an appropriate way to approach using a Japanese coffee machine. And I was enoying this single cup of coffee more than I had been enjoying two pots a day. Big bonus, in grinding the coffee finer and drinking less I had cut my coffee bean utilization by considerably more than 85%.----December 2024After nearly two years of use I am moving on. Mechanically, there is nothing conspicously wrong with the machine, although I find the coffee consistently weak. A special feature of this machine that I have come to enjoy involves incorporating the unscorched dried coffee from the bottom of the caraffe from one day's coffee into the next day's - not a feature every glass caraffe coffee maker could do gracefully. It is a testament to the fine temperature control of that heating element.This machine makes passable coffee; but at a high altitude and it struggles to get water hot enough for good extraction, even with preheating.I have learned to make pour-over coffee and in my first try I was able to get coffee I like a lot more than what this machine turns out - stronger with just a hint more bitterness and sourness. The small caraffe with the drop-in cone filter holder is ideally suited to the this: so at least for a while I intend to use the caraffe from this machine to make my pour-over coffee using boiling water (which at my altitude is about 95ºC.)