Review on ☕ Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker: Sleek Silver Design for Effortless Brewing by Richard Messar

I've been using the Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5 cup filter coffee maker for a few months. While coffee brews a delicious cup of coffee, it does have some downsides. My requirements for a coffee maker are as follows: 1. a small machine, both in terms of work surface/size, and an auto-drip brewer for a small number of cups of coffee to be brewed (less than 10 cups)2. a machine that has a history of satisfaction and good reviews from customers who have bought and used it3. a simply designed coffee maker that is uncomplicated and doesn't offer too many functions that I don't need or wouldn't use. List of advantages and disadvantages of Zutto PROS: 1. It is small and does not take up much space on the table.2. It has a simple design and is limited to the basic functions of an automatic filter coffee machine. It has no clock, no coffee-ready beep, no built-in bean grinder, no automatic cleaner. I don't miss most of those that aren't part of my Zutto.3 design. The Zutto coffee machine seems to stay true to the Japanese attention to quality workmanship and tradition of clean lines in the design of their products and high-end machines. I have owned and used a Zojirushi Bread Maker for a number of years and it still bakes very flavorful and consistent individual loaves of bread. The coffee pot does not drip coffee onto the machine's heating plate/pad, which means that after the brewed coffee is poured into the cup, the coffee drips will not drip down and will not "boil and stain" on the heating plate. CONS: 1. Plastic water tank/reservoir holds up to 5 cups or 25 oz. of water, which is removed prior to filling with water and lowered back into the machine after filling, has several difficult-to-read gauges that mark the desired number of cups to brew. The measuring lines should be larger and darker in color contrast to be able to read them better when filling the plastic water tank. Also, there's no proper handle or well-defined edge for removing and replacing the water tank. A little hard to grab.2. The Zutto coffee maker is small, and while it can make up to 5 cups of brewed coffee, those are small cups at only about 6 ounces. for every cup of coffee brewed. With my 10 oz. Coffee cups, which means I barely get (2.5) cups of coffee, let alone 5 full, large coffee cups of brewed coffee.3. There is no automatic shutdown after the end of the brewing process. I have to be careful and remember to turn it off.4. There is no beep or other sound to signal the end of coffee preparation. Now I'm retired so I have time to wait here for a few minutes to finish the brew. Zutto brews coffee in just minutes; not the fastest, but certainly not the slowest.5. When filling a cone-shaped basket (coffee grounds) that fits over the carafe, the perforated lid that closes the basket has a somewhat "fancy" design and can be a little tricky to install and snap into place while placed over the grounds basket . If it is not latched and placed fairly level over the grounds basket when the brewed coffee is poured from the pot into the coffee cup, the entire lid and basket assembly can fall into the coffee cup or onto the counter. . Prior to pouring coffee from the carafe, the user's thumb must fit over the basket and lid while pouring to prevent it from moving or falling forward and down. It's easy to learn to remember before pouring coffee into a cup or mug, and it certainly shouldn't be a "deal-breaker" for anyone considering buying this coffee maker. Bottom Line: The Zojirushi Zutto is a very basic, inexpensive, small-capacity coffee maker for one or two people, each drinking a small cup of coffee. It's not for a family wanting multiple cups of coffee at a time, or anyone who wants "all the bells and whistles" in their coffee maker. The reason I chose Zutto was that I needed a very basic, small capacity brewery. After a lot of research, I found that there aren't many small auto brewers on the market to choose from. Would I buy Zojirushi Zutto again? Yes I would.