Zojirushi EC-DAC50 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker, Silver

When my second Keurig coffee maker stopped working in less than a year, I decided to switch back to a drip coffee maker. I didn’t want a cheap one, but I didn’t want to spend $$$$ either. I read a couple of articles in The New York Times and Consumer Reports that reviewed all the different brands and price points of drip coffee makers, and I also read reviews of current owners of this model. All things considered, I decided that the Zojirushi 5 cup drip coffeemaker would be a good choice for me.

I am SO glad and happy that I bought this coffee maker. It is compact and doesn’t take up a lot of counter space. It makes great coffee and the water is actually nice and hot. It is easy to use and to clean, and I no longer spend time trying to take apart used coffee pods for recycling , or taking apart reusable ones for cleaning. I also like that I can adjust how much coffee to use to my particular preference ; the coffee scoop that is included is nice to have. I haven’t had a bad cup of coffee yet, and I’m looking forward to using this coffee maker for the foreseeable future.
PS: 5 cups of coffee actually equal about 2 coffee mugs full of coffee , which is perfect for one person. The 5 cup size might be too small for 2-3 people wanting big mugs of coffee at the same time.🤭🤣

4 Stars because this coffee maker is great but not flawless. Pros: Brews very fast. good coffee extraction when beans are ground fine producing great coffee flavor. Easy to use and easy to clean. Carafe pours well compared to many coffee makers I’ve used., but pouring coffee before the filter stops dripping can results in spillage/grounds in coffee cup. 5 cups equals about 3 mugs of coffee. Cons: #2 cone filter must be folded along seam and bottom to fit perfectly (see directions). The way the hot water enters filter leaves a depression so coffee extraction is left wanting around the outer ring (filter lid design error?). Filter top lid/cone latch need to be held by thumb so cone doesn’t fall out when pouring coffee. Coffee could be hotter. The solution is to warm the glass carafe prior to brewing but this adds a step. One coffee cup can be warmed on top during brewing if carefully placed. A dedicated area to warm a cold cup while brewing coffee would be a plus on a winter’s day. There is no auto shut off after say 45 minutes to prevent carafe from boiling dry, something expected of an expensive coffee maker. Bottom line: A cheap and cheerful 4/5 cup Mr Coffee is strong competitor not only in price but for making a great cup of coffee.

I been very picky with coffee makers. We just moved to new place and I was dreaming about good coffee maker. I like my coffee to taste good, and be hot, so I was very particular about my pick. Few things that were important for me when looking for new coffee maker were: size, simplicity, nice design, good ratings, great coffee.
After weeks of searching I end up getting Zojirushi. The price is good, size is great, very compact and super easy to clean. The coffee is fantastic, hot, and brewed quickly. Please note that 5-cup is really 2 mugs. I wish it was 4 mugs instead but ah well, can’t have it all. At the end of the day, when I pour 2 cups, I usually start another pot of coffee, since myself and my bf like to drink 2 large cups in the morning.
So far the coffee maker is great, and it meets all my expectations. I noticed few people commenting about less amount of coffee used with this particular model, and I must agree. Coffee comes out strong and very flavourful, so you can get away with putting less in.
Over all, great product, beautiful design, fantastic coffee.
Future improvement? I would love to see automatic switch-off function, but that’s about it 🙂

Wow! This is a great little coffee maker! It is just my wife and I that drink coffee – me a lot of it, she just one cup a day. We had a cheap Mr. Coffee that lasted us 4 years but we were never happy with it. Despite this, we are still coffee fanatics, and we frequent Starbucks and other coffee houses in our travels. The Zutto rocks! The old coffee maker dispersed hot water at a measured 190 degrees and the in-carafe temperature was a steady 170 degrees. The Zutto makes hot coffee! It disperses water at 205 degrees and keeps it hot in the carafe at a steady 185 degrees. So, there is a huge difference in the temperature. The first thing we noticed was the strong aroma of the brewed coffee in our kitchen. The Zutto is brilliantly designed, and I’m an aerospace engineer that is really picky. I was ready to try a Technivorm at considerably higher cost, but it was still a bit too big for our needs, but the Zutto took care of our concerns. Specifically we needed a 4 – 6 cup machine with a cone filter. I didn’t want timers and all that other stuff, just more to break, and they always do break as we have found over the years. The Zutto is well made in materials, fit, and function, the carafe does not drip, the removable tank actually makes filling much easier than pouring, and the cone-in-the-carafe eliminates all messes. It brews a full pot in just 6 minutes. Just perfect. A very minor nit would be that the handle is only attached to the carafe by one metal band at the top, so the handle slightly rocks back and forth a bit, but it is still solid. Thanks to all the other reviewers for helping me guide my decision! You can’t possibly go wrong with this great coffee maker.

Update: After a few weeks of heavy use, here is an update. First, the coffee is obviously very hot compared to the old MC. My wife and I notice that the coffee is still steaming in the cup – we never had steam in the cup after pouring. The coffee definitely tastes great. We have tried Starbucks, Costco brand (which we love and have heard it is actually SB), and various local roasted coffees – all brew up very nicely. Five cups seems to brew more full-bodied than just two cups, for obvious reasons of overall exposure of the coffee to hot water, but two cups still tastes great. Another tiny nit is that when you push the water reservoir into the machine it tilts the machine a bit because the feet are not pushed out the edge enough, so you sometimes have to hold the machine to push the reservoir into place. There is zero mess with this coffee maker! The fact of having the enclosed filter basket inside the carafe keeps the exterior of the machine completely clean. There are no drops falling onto the hotplate either. The plastic used in the machine does not stain with coffee either. So the exterior of the machine is completely clean all the time – this is very, very nice. There are many variables to coffee making, so best to try to control each variable to the extent possible for consistency and to figure out what needs to be adjusted. Strongly recommend this coffee maker.

Update: 18 months later, the handle on the pot broke off. We ordered a new one for $25 and upon inspection the new one seems to be much more solid than the original. In fact, I recall my wife and I both commenting when we got the machine that the handle seemed flimsy and not solidly secured to the pot. So, I think the original was not assembled properly or was defective right from the start. The bottom part of the handle should tightly hug the glass pot. So, if you buy this coffee maker, make sure that the handle is secured very tightly and snuggly to the pot. It should not wiggle (ours always wiggled right out of the box, but the new one is solidly attached). The quality of the coffee, which is still perfect, outweighs this minor issue. So, still a solid BUY recommendation, provided you confirm the pot is solid! Happy coffee time!