Zojirushi EC-YSC100 Fresh Brew Plus Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker, 10 Cup, Stainless Steel/Black

We bought this Zojirushi coffee maker almost 9 years ago and it still brews an excellent batch of coffee. After a glitchy start because of a defective part that the company promptly replaced, we have had no other issues since. Coffee stays hot in the very durable carafe, it cleans up easily and it consistently brews a rich, full-flavored cup of coffee. In 2016, I searched far and wide for a quality carafe-style coffee maker before coming upon this strangely named brand. I see that their newer model (EC-YTC100XB) has an even higher customer rating than this one, so when it comes time for a replacement, we will definitely be sticking with Zojirushi.

Pros:1. Consistent brew temperature with the water coming out at 200 deg F2. Timer and auto off3. Vacuum insulated carafe!!!Cons:1. Makes a bunch of noise2. Basket type filter means potential risk of filter sides collapsing during brewing sending grinds into the brewSummary:After our older model Zojirushi coffee maker died after 6 yrs of loyal daily service of producing a great pot of coffee, we were in the market for a replacement. My wife and I drink coffee daily and we figured we would treat ourselves to a really great coffee maker, so we splurged and initially bought the ridiculously priced Technivorm Moccamaster. While it did brew an excellent pot of coffee, it really didn't feel solidly built or that it could ultimately justify the price. Parts were kind of loose fit, there were a lot of parts to take apart and clean, and I always felt like the filter basket contraption was always on the verge of falling over and spilling the dry (or wet) grounds everywhere. Given all that I was really looking for in a new coffee maker was something that could reliably produce water at 200 degrees and pour it over evenly over coffee grounds, we decided to give the updated Zojirushi coffee maker a chance.We are very happy with this updated Zojirushi. For a third of the price of the Technivorm, this does exactly the same thing with a few pluses. Having a timer is a great convenience. The Zojirushi also comes with a vacuum insulated carafe, while the more expensive Technivorm just has an insulated carafe. Every component of the Zojirushi fits and clicks together with a solid, satisfying snap. On the Technivorm, I felt that most of the pieces, especially the pieces of the filter basket, were just loosely sitting on top of each other and always at risk of just falling apart.So most importantly, the taste of the coffee brewed from the Zojirushi is not infeior to that brewed from the Technivorm. Granted I'm not a coffee connoisseur and can't distinguish between great and excellent coffee, but I can definitely taste the difference between average and great coffee. And the two machines brewed great tasting coffee. Neither one had the mouthfeel of a French press coffee, but both tasted similar to a good pour-over. So given that the Zojirushi brewed a pot of coffee similar in taste to one by a machine costing 3 times as much, we returned the Technivorm and kept the Zojirushi.We're also quite happy with the carafe in the Zojirushi comparison to the Technivorm, and that of the prior Zojirushi model. For one, it's now vacuum insulated and keeps the coffee hot for hours. Secondly, the cap doesn't have to be removed, or adjusted, or require a secondary cap to keep the heat from escaping once the brew process is over. The new carafe also has a push button valve to release the coffee, and this valve truly works. The coffee simply won't come out of the carafe unless you hit the button. One annoyance we had with the Technivorm carafe was that it needed one cap for brewing, and then when it was done brewing, you had to change the cap to another one. Just more things to wash after every brew cycle.Of course, there are a few things about the Zojirushi that's a bit annoying, but nothing that is a deal breaker. The most annoying one is the noise. It make all sorts of slurping, gurgling and burbling noises during the entire brewing cycle. It constantly sounds like it's having a hard time sucking up the water out of the reservoir, or as if there's a leak in the pumping mechanism somewhere, but the water level methodically and consistently decreases as it brews so I don't think there's anything wrong. It's just noisy. Also, I'm not a huge fan of basket type of filters because they seem to be more at risk of the filter collapsing during the brewing process sending grinds into the brew itself. So far, this hasn't happened in the few days that we've used this machine. This is just a personal nitpicking thing.Overall, we're very happy with this coffee maker, and prefer it hands down over the much more expensive Technivorm. And with the money we saved, we'll upgrade our burr grinder, which will probably have a much more profound impact on coffee flavor.

I met my wife fighting on Craigslist, which is it's own story. When we first met in person I was not at all disappointed. She is charming, brilliant, beautiful, prone to cussing like a sailor occasionally and damned funny. She is also an artist of many persuasions including acting. Now, being something of a not-optimist when it comes to the one fatal flaw in an otherwise glowing situation, I couldn't help but worry, "What if she's a bad artist?"It didn't seem possible. She obviously oozed talent and genius out of every pore but that what-if kept hounding me because man, even though I don't think this has ever happened to me, there is nothing worse than the thought of having a dear friend much less a lover who has misidentified themselves as something they're not and likely never will be. I think I had tried to put the thought out of my mind but when I first saw her perform it was with a sense of relief that no, everything lined up. Her emotional legitimacy and attention to detail made even her first small role in the city of Chicago an exciting thing to see and it brought character to the play that wouldn't have been there if the role had been played by anyone who was merely more than just competent.The ridiculous parallel to this coffee maker of course, is that every iota of the experience of unpacking it and setting it up for the first brew drove home how incredibly well-thought out and well-engineered everything was. Even the exceedingly but not overly thorough manual which I took a few unnecessary seconds to leaf through to make sure I didn't miss a step was well put together and designed. I don't think I could love a coffee maker but I sure liked what I was seeing and discovering, How often do you buy an appliance and think "Wow. Why doesn't everybody try this hard?"And of course there was that lingering worry. "But what if the coffee stinks?" That would be about as deeply disappointing as an appliance experience could get.It doesn't. Damn fine cup of Gevallia french roast.The good stuff:* No stick surface on the carafe* Thermal carafe. Can't go back to glass once you've had one of these* Carafe is surprisingly lightweight (something other than vacuum?), well-balanced, pours at a reasonable rate and doesn't take up a lot of space on a counter or a crowded table, and it has a non-stick surface on the interior* Seems to brew stronger than our old cone-filter cuisinart* A bare minimum of flat panel (ideal for any environment involving clumsy groggy people and liquids) buttons for a coffee maker with a clock and timer on it* Very easy to pop the just shallow enough for our sink with dishes in it reservoir in and out* Manual with exactly enough info about everything, including info on how to take it apart for cleaning, possibly part replacement which strikes me as a good indicator that it's built to last.* Didn't know about this when we first purchased it but it apparently has an emergency shut off if it overheats. The lack of this feature on our old awkward Cuisinart is a good thing because running it without water one too many times (I'm groggy in the daytime - mornings I'm bordering on incoherent)* Quiet. It just sort of putters and the alarm is perfect for an apartment or being a couple rooms away in a large house. You'll hear it but it doesn't nag* Not as attractive as my wife - that would be bad, possibly weirdNo bad stuff yet and I'm not worried. There's one hilarious excess feature. You can reset the alarm beeps to be much shorter or silence them completely. I was wondering what sort of hideous sound was going to blast the house that they felt the need for that. I've never heard a series of polite beeps before. It's like a soft voice in the bedroom saying, "In case you're a little bit awake I just wanted to let you know there's coffee."