I have owned A LOT of coffeemakers over the course of my 50 years (alright I didn't own many the first 15 years or so,) and I even sold them back in 2000 when I worked in the housewares department of my local Filene's department store. As I stated in the title of this review, I believe that the Zojirushi Fresh Brew is better than any of those other brands; not because it has more bells and whistles (it doesn't), not because it's better looking (it is), but because it makes the best cup of coffee I have ever had.
The unit heats the water to a near perfect brewing temperature of 185 to 190 degress. The brew time is also just about ideal; it brews a 50 ounce carafe in 9 1/2 minutes (Zojirushi calls it a 10 cup carafe, I call it 2 1/2 cups, but I use a 20oz mug). The coffee comes out nice and hot, and neither too weak from too short a brewing time, nor scalded from too long a brewing time.
The Fresh Brew uses either #4 paper filters or a #4 gold filter. The original design used a #3 filter, and the filter holder is a little small for a #4. If you moisten the filter (as you really ought to anyway) before putting it in the holder, it fits perfectly. I've tried brewing coffee in this machine with both a gold filter and an unbleached paper filter; personally I prefer the coffee brewed with the paper filter (the gold filter allows more particulates to get into the coffee).
To get the best cup of coffee possible, you will want to grind your coffee finer than you probably have been. I have found that one step up from Espresso gind gives me the best flavour. Also, the single biggest reason people get a bad cup of coffee out of any coffee maker is that they don't use enough coffee. In this machine, I use 1 3/4 scoops of coffee for every 6 oz of water, so for a full pot I use 14 scoops.
On other machines I've owned (Krups and DeLonghi in particular), the water reservoir was so long and narrow, that it was difficult to fill it without flooding the counter top. Not so with the Zojirushi, the reservoir has a nice, wide, opening.
Also, unlike some other coffee makers, the thermal carafe of the Fresh Brew has a pouring spout, so the coffee goes in your cup/mug, not all over the counter. The carafe itself is an insulated, double-walled, stainless steel, thermal carafe. Absolutely no heat is transmitted to the outer surface of the carafe, which of course means your coffee stays hotter. Also, since it is a thermal carafe, there is no heating element in the base of the Fresh Brew. This means that there is no chance of the coffee being "burned" from sitting on a heating pad for too long. Don't leave the carafe on the Fresh Brew if you plan to leave coffee in it for any length of time. The carrafe has a top which you can put on, closing the opening where the coffee runs into the carafe. Sealed like that, the coffee will stay hot and fresh all day, but the top prevents the carafe from sitting on the coffee maker.
As for the bells and whistles, the Zojirushi only has a digital clock and a programmable auto brew feature.
On top of everything else, the Zojirushi sells for about half to two-thirds the suggested retail price of the other brands. How can you go wrong? With the Zojirushi Fresh Brew, you get the best possible cup of coffee (in my opinion) for about half the price of other coffee makers.Get more detail about Zojirushi EC-BD15 Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker.
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