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520 of 531 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Among the best auto-drip brewers. See tips, below..., April 30, 2005
I've spent several weeks week getting to know the Zojirushi Fresh Brew... and for the most part, I'm quite pleased. It has some foibles [which I'll get to in a moment] but on the whole it's a very capable coffee brewer. More, it's one of the very few home models I know that can brew 8 cups of just-roasted coffee at a proper 2 tablespoons per cup ratio without fuss, and - this is important! - maintain proper brewing temperatures throughout the entire brew cycle.
The details...
Zoji has been making vacuum pots and the like for nearly 100 years, and they've been making an assortment of rice-cookers, tea brewers and hot water dispensers for decades. While this is, I believe, their first home coffee brewer, they've got more than a little experience in kitchen electrics. They've put that experience to good use.
If you've ever brewed up a thermos full of coffee using a big Melitta filter cone then this setup will look pretty familiar. For all intents and purposes, the Fresh Brew simply adds an automated hot water delivery system to the mix... with a few improvements.
Improvement number one: not only does this system brew into an all-stainless thermal carafe [no hot plate here, thankyouverymuch] but it also insulates the brew basket. What good is it, after all, to heat up all that water if it's just going to get cold while you're brewing? This is huge! This is important! This is... well, I'm excited about it, okay?
Improvement number two: the Fresh Brew features an accurate gauge of water volume. When it reads that you've got 8 cups of water in the brewer's reservoir, it means it. Mind you, we're talking 6 oz. cups of water -- that's the way the coffee world measures a cup [unless you're Bodum and then it's 4 oz.].
Improvement number three: the Fresh Brew is patient. The biggest pain about the manual pour-over method is that you've got to wait to add more water, especially if the coffee is really fresh. Fresh coffee blooms with its charge of CO2! Faced with a full basket of coffee that was literally fresh from the roaster the Zoji didn't overflow, nor did it heave grounds into the water dispensing shower-head. More, the grounds were thoroughly saturated; no dry spots.
So where's the foibles?
Like a great many autodrip brewers the feeder tube that comes from the Zoji's heating element to the shower-head takes a straight path right through the water reservoir. For most brewers this is a game-over situation... the heating element simply can't overcome the heat exchange that occurs en route to the brew-head. On the Zoji, the heating element *does* get hot enough... provided that the water you've placed in the reservoir is not *too* cold.
Example A: In the office using the "unchilled" spigot on the water cooler, I draw off 48 ounces of water for the reservoir and brew a pot. Throughout the brew cycle water temperatures in the brew basket range between 195 and 200 degrees F. The result is a lovely pot of Ethiopian Yrgacheffe that is sweet, floral and lemony.
Example B: At home I draw off 48 ounces of water from the water filter in-line with the refridgerator. The temperature of the water in the reservoir is about 40 degrees F. and the resulting temperature in the brew basket never tops 185 degrees F. The result is an icky pot of the very same Yrgacheffe that is bitter, murky and flat.
The moral: mind your initial water temperature and you'll do just fine.
All in all, the Zojirushi Fresh Brew is capable of making 8 cups of coffee that's on a par with manual pourover methods. Better, really, as it insulates the brew-basket to better maintain water temperatures.
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350 of 364 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another quality Zoji product - just what I was looking for!, March 25, 2004
I was looking for a coffee maker with a large capacity, unbreakable carafe, auto-shut-off, pause-and-serve, and a programmable timer. I found everything I wanted
with this Zoji. It has a stylish, brushed stainless carafe that stays cool to the touch and has no breakable glass liner like some carafes have. The base has an easy to read water-level display, with markings up to 10 cups, but it has a larger capacity than my old 10 cup Braun. It also has a cute little elephant on it! The 1.5 liters works out to approx. 51 ounces, or just over 6 (8-ounce) cups. My old "10 cup" coffee maker held about 5 8-ounce cups. I never have quite figured out what counts as a "cup" in coffee terms, but it seems to vary between 4 and 6 ounces. This is a pretty tall (15 inches) coffee maker, and you have to lift the lid to add the coffee and the water. Since steam comes out of the top, I pull it out from under the cabinet when it's running. If you have shallow counters, this could be a little tricky. The only down side, in my opinion, is that it uses the hard-to-find #3 filters. I've gotten around it by cutting about 1 inch off the top of my #4s. I also had a little trouble getting the lid off the carafe when I screwed it on too tight - I had to put a towel over it to get a good grip. Those minor details aren't enough to cost it a star, though. I'm not sure how long coffee stays hot in this carafe, because we drink so much coffee around here it doesn't stay in there very long. I did sleep in one morning, though, and the coffee that was automatically made at 6:15 was still hot at 7:30. Overall, I am extremely happy with this coffee maker. I have hot coffee ready for me whenever I get up in the morning, and I never have to wonder whether I forgot to shut it off when I leave the house.
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274 of 285 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So very much to love about this coffee maker, August 3, 2004
We purchased this machine last month, after much research, to replace a 6 year-old Cuisinart basic model. We were looking for a well-made thermal carafe machine at a reasonable price. We found it!
We can't find enough good things to say about it! Of course it is very stylish looking and it fits nicely on our counter under our standard size cabinets. Yes, you have to move it out to fill the water chamber and basket, but big deal! I can do that!
It is extermely easy to program with just enough controls to make sense.
It makes good hot coffee that stays nice and hot for a good while. While it may not keep it scorching hot like a model with a hot plate, which also continues to cook and burn your coffee, it is definitely hot enough! We made some coffee one morning and didn't finish it. We purposely left it in the pot while we were gone and upon returning home at 5 pm, the coffee was still amazingly warm. It was not hot enough to want to drink it, but we were amazed at the heat it had retained.
We think this model is extermely easy to clean and doesn't have lots of parts that look as though they might break. Not only does the basket where you place your filter and grounds come out, but so does the container which holds the basket. It lifts up and you can rinse it out. The slots that hold this container also have holes in the bottom so junk doesn't collect. The lid on the carafe works easily and the secondary lid is nice too.
We also think this machine makes the coffee extremely quickly!
We have seen absolutely no leakage problems or overflow troubles. And for sure this model can use the standard #4 cone filters. I called the maker before purchasing it to make sure. It sticks up a hair over the edge of the basket, but it has made no difference and has caused no problems.
Overall, this is a great buy so far! We went back and forth on which model to buy and finally decided on this one. We love it!
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