Best Zojirushi Coffee Maker – Our Top 5 Review

Although Japan is well known for its tea culture, coffee made its mark on Japanese culture in the past decades.  

In Japan, whenever you want the caffeine kick, the most common coffee chains such as Starbucks, Tully’s, St Marc, Doutor, Pronto will be around. Or simply insert a few coins into a vending machine everywhere on the street, you can get a bottle of delicious instant coffee drink. If you want to enjoy a sophisticated cup of hand-drip coffee, you can easily find a local café at the corner. 

Coffee becomes an essential part of people’s everyday lives. Many Japanese companies naturally expanded their product line for coffee makers. For example, coffee lovers are so familiar with the Hario V60 dripper and Kalita wave. 

This guide will go through the best coffee makers from another famous Japanese brand – Zojirushi. And check out their popular drip coffee makers in detail. 

Top 5 Zojirushi Coffee Makers

The Zojirushi started their vacuum bottle business 100 years ago, in 1918. It is now one of the biggest consumer electronics manufacturers and gained a reputation in both the domestic and international markets. 

Zojirushi’s best-selling products include electric water boilers, rice cookers, bread machines, and of course, coffee makers.

1. Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker

The Zojirushi EC-DAC50 ZUTTO Drip Coffeemaker can brew up to 5 cups of coffee and keep the coffee warm automatically.

It features a removable water tank with a charcoal water filter that lasts up to 2 years under regular use. You can see the water level in the water tank from the transparent gauge. 

With measurements of 6 x 9 x 11 inches and a weight of 5.19 pounds, Zojirushi ZUTTO Drip Coffeemaker is quite compact and won’t take up lots of space on your countertop. It has a capacity of 22.8 oz (0.68L) so you can make five 4.5oz cups of coffee. 

There’s only one on/off switch on the Zutto Drip Coffeemaker, you won’t have any problems making coffee with it. To make a cup of coffee, you add a #2 paper filter to the cone-shaped filter basket, add medium coffee grounds, and then flip the switch. It will do everything for you and keep the coffee hot in the glass carafe. It takes about 8 minutes to brew a full 5-cup jar of coffee.

2. Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus 10-Cup Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker EC-YTC100XB

The Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker EC-YTC100 brews flavorful coffee with ease. It looks sturdy and durable. The swing basket and casing on the right have stainless steel finish. While the tanker and other parts use food-grade BPA-free plastic materials. With a clear control panel, you can operate this coffee machine without problems. 

This Zojirushi EC-YTC100XB coffee maker brews the coffee at an optimal 200 °F (93 °C), which in the recommended range for a golden cup standard by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). Also, it features the pre-infusion, which lets the coffee grounds bloom for a while so the coffee flavor can be maximum extracted. That means this Fresh Brew Plus Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker can make really good-tasting coffee. 

It takes about 15 minutes to brew 10 cups of coffee in normal mode. If you are in the morning rush and can’t wait for that long, you can use the time saver mode, which brews coffee quicker. (11 mins for 10 cups). 

Zojirushi YTC100XB Coffee Maker has a capacity of 51 oz (1.5L), meaning it can brew 10 cups of excellent hot Coffee. Also, it can brew coffee concentrate for up to 5 cups of iced coffee. It also comes with a measuring spoon. You can measure 0.18 oz for 1 cup or 0.36 oz for 2 cups. The reusable and washable flat-bottomed permanent coffee filter saves you lots of money from filter replacement. 

It’s a smart coffee machine so that you can set an auto-start in the 24-hour programmable timer. This Zojirushi coffee maker will get your coffee ready when you wake up. You can set the current time in the display via the control panel. It’s always handy if you have an extra clock in your kitchen. 

This Zojirushi Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker comes with a 10-cup stainless steel vacuum insulated thermal carafe. It keeps coffee hot for hours without an unpleasant burnt taste caused by the heating plates.

The main parts of this drip coffee maker are removable, so it’s easy to deep clean the filter basket, showerhead, water tank after using for a period of time to ensure the high-quality coffee taste. 

3. Zojirushi Maker607 Fresh Brew Plus 12-Cup Coffee Maker EC-YGC120

The Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus 12-cup coffee maker EC-YGC120 looks similar to the EC-YTC100XB in the overall design. It comes with a glass carafe and hot plate instead of the thermal carafe. However, this is not the only difference between them.

You can set 4 warming plate settings at your preferred temperature, including Hi, Med, Low, and Off, from the control panel. 

It comes with a convenient keep-warm-off ice basket that perfectly fits the Zojirushi coffee maker and lets the hot water drip directly on the ice cubes for maximum flavor. You can enjoy the Japanese-style iced coffee with one-touch. 

The Fresh Brew Plus 12-cup coffee maker EC-YGC120 also has a larger capacity than EC-YTC100XB. It can brew 61oz (1.8L) of coffee, approximately 12 cups of coffee at once. 

Other features are similar to the EC-YTC100XB we reviewed above. This Fresh Brew Plus 12-cup coffee maker also brews great coffee with the pre-infusion and 200 Degree Fahrenheit brew temperature. It also has a 24-hour programmable timer.

4. Zojirushi coffee makers “coffee through” Dark Brown EC-CB40-TD

The Zojirushi coffee maker EC-CB40-TD is a grind and brew coffee maker. It has a built-in blade coffee grinder. You don’t expect the super consistent coffee grounds. However, it’s always good to grind beans before brewing for maximum freshness. 

First, you add coffee beans into the mill, press the button on top of the ground bin for about 15 seconds, and grind your coffee beans into medium grind size. If you prefer coarser or finer grounds, adjust the grinding time. Then add a coffee filter to the filter basket, pour the coffee grounds into the filter. Add a desired amount of water to the water tank in the middle. Turn the coffee brewer on. You will get a full jar of freshly brewed coffee within 6 minutes. 

The Zojirushi EC-CB40-TD is an all-in-1 solution for your home brewing. However, if you are looking for a grind and brew coffee makers with a higher quality conical burr grinder, check out our top-picked here. 

5. ZOJIRUSHI stainless server coffee maker for five cups EC-KT50-RA

This stylish coffee maker looks nice in your kitchen. It’s super easy to use, with only one button at the side of the machine. Even if you don’t understand the Japanese manual, you can still use it without any problems. 

Open the swing basket, and you’ll see a filter basket inside, which fits the #2 coffee filter. Then you can adjust the coffee strength by turning the knob located near the showerhead. Three settings are available (mild, regular, and strong). Put the carafe in and flip the switch. It will brew a full jar of coffee in about 7 minutes. 

EC-KT50 comes with a stainless steel thermal carafe instead of a glass one. It keeps the original taste of coffee for a long time without extra heat caused by a heater. The carafe has a capacity of 22.8oz (675ml), which is approximately 5 cups of coffee. (4.5 oz cup size). 

Like all the other Zojirushi models, there’s an iced coffee water measure mark, the removable water tank makes filling easy. The filter basket is also removable, which means you can clean them with ease. 

Overall, this is an option for someone who prefers an easy drip coffee maker with a stainless steel thermal carafe. 

Our Verdict – The Best Zojirushi Coffee maker

The Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus EC-YTC100XB (10-cup Thermal carafe version) and EC-YGC120 (12-cup Glass carafe version) are both excellent. They can produce high-quality coffee with pre-infusion and optimal brew temperature. However, we prefer the EC-YTC100XB since we really like the high-quality thermal carafe provided by Zojirushi.

Just in case you don’t know, Zojirushi is one of the best manufacturers of thermal mugs. The thumb-activated pouring makes serving hassle-free and enjoyable. Zojirushi uses durable stainless steel materials and industry-standard vacuum insulation technology in the carafe of your coffee maker. That sounds quite appealing. Sure, you can also buy a more affordable EC-YGC120 with a glass carafe and an extra Zojirushi thermal travel mug. That’s also a pretty good combination. 

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