Comments on: Zojirushi ECBD15 Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker

By: D Williams

D Williams — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:26:30 +0000

Water Gage Broke after 2 months
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I purchased this item last June and by August the water gage had broken. Without the water cage there is no way to determine who much water you put in and consequently how much coffee to add. So, the coffee comes out terrible. The water gage (which is a little red ball in a tube) brakes so easily I can’t imagine this hasn’t happened to many others who bought this. We followed the manufacturers instructions on how to fix the water gage and that didn’t help. When I emailed the company, all they would suggest was packing it up and shipping it to them in Californa-what a hassle. I have had many coffee makers over the years and most have lasted for many years. This is the most expensive coffee maker I ever purchased and it broke after a few months. Before it broke the coffee was decent, albeit kind of weak, and the thermal carafe never kept it very hot and it spilled very easily when you try to pour the coffee. I would not recommend this product. Thank goodness for Amazon which took the item back. Their customer service is great. I found a $29.00 Black and Decker instead.

By: Rosi

Rosi — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:30:40 +0000

love this coffee pot!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the best coffee pot I have ever had. It’s simple to use, keeps the coffee very hot and takes up little space on my counter. I would recommend it.

By: Laurie Pottmeyer

Laurie Pottmeyer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:16:28 +0000

Lame, lame, lame.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I think this machine is lame. It is not solid what-so-ever. The carafe is a joke – as my coffee is luke warm within two hours. A small piece of plastic (the “lid”) you have to put on after brewing just does not cut it. The review that mentions it does not really take a “4″ filter is right on…you have to be carful the hot water spout (not sure what that is called) is over the ground beans and does not get hung up on the “4″ filter paper….or you have a mess on your hands. Maybe I got a lemon – but the water also does not saturate the beans, leaving part of them actually dry after the brewing cycle. Weak coffee and a waste of beans!

This machine is NOT worth anywhere near the $80 – $90 price tag. I would rather have a $30 Target special Mr. Coffee at this point…no joke.

By: Get Bluesified

Get Bluesified — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:17:51 +0000

Great Machine
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was surprised at the improvement in the taste of the same bag of coffee from the new machine vs. the old one.

It is a good looking machine and simply functions as you’d expect. It was more than others in this category, but seems to be good price/performance ratio.

Very minor comments/complaints:

1. The carafe is a bit thinner than our old Cusinart (worst performer ever), so it doesn’t keep coffee hot too long

2. The red LED lights are a dated look (I would have expected black) and stands out at night when lights are off

3. There is a removable cap that plugs the top cover — it is the same diameter as our sink drain and easy to lose track of (especially with 2 and 4-year boys). Since the cap is a two-piece design, it is possible to brew a pot with the cap in place, which will result in coffee all over the counter!

I sure would love an all-steel constuction machine at the $100 price point that works this good…

By: Thomas E. Sarver

Thomas E. Sarver — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:53:15 +0000

Highly Recommended
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After our previous coffee maker gave up the ghost after 15 years, we went on a search for a replacement. Our requirement for the next coffee maker was that it came with a thermos pot to keep the coffee hot. After reading reviews of several makers & the reviews here, we settled on purchasing this maker. We now have been using this maker about a month now and we use it every day. And I cannot find 1 bad thing to write about this maker. We have not had any problems with the coffee running out of the pot as has been reported here, it brews the coffee at a very good temperature (nice & hot) & keeps the coffee hot for over 5 hours. Don’y know if it will keep it hotter longer or not, as after 5 hours, the pot is empty & the last cup was just as hot as the 1st cup poured.

I would highly recommend this maker to anyone looking to replace their old one.

By: S. Hooper

S. Hooper — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:43:13 +0000

5 years just passed
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
One of the best coffee makers we have owned. Brews hot and fast. Holds the heat. Lasted about 5 years and looking to buy the same model again. Not often you can say that about a small appliance.

By: M. Hertzler

M. Hertzler — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:00:02 +0000

Good but LOUD!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I loved this coffee maker from the moment it popped up in my search. When it arrived, I unpacked it and checked for all those problems people reviewed it said that it had. I was easily able to figure out the top, brew coffee without spilling it, and fit the cone filters into the top with no problem. So I am not what the fuss is about.

The coffee is great, we even find that we are using less coffee in the maker as we were with the Black and Decker and Mr Coffees before this one. It brews quickly and stays hot for hours.

However, this thing is loud! From the moment it starts brewing, it almost sighs and does these deep, heavy exhales that are all at once scary and relaxing. The gurgling is constant and gets even worse toward the end. I am not saying that we can hear it upstairs in the bedroom, but if we ever have an overnight guest on the couch, we won’t be setting the timer.

By: A. Gorenz

A. Gorenz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:54:43 +0000

Zojirushi EC-BD15
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The coffee maker looked very nice and was very quiet during operation. However, I was unhappy with the thermal carafe. It did not keep the coffee very hot. The bottom of the carafe seemed very thin and not insulated. Also, the lid was difficult to open. We had a coffee maker before with a thermal carafe that had a push button for pouring, was much easier to pour from. I ended up returning the coffee maker and purchased a different brand.

By: Adam Gerard

Adam Gerard — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:18:24 +0000

Brews excellent coffee and keeps it hot for hours.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
We selected this coffee maker for two reasons:

1) Consumer Reports said that, when brewing, their tests showed it heated water to the appropriate brewing temperature.

2) It has a carafe instead of a heating plate.

And I have not been disappointed. The machine brews an excellent pot of coffee every morning. And then keeps it hot for hours. This is perfect for a household like mine where one of us frequently gets up early and the other might not need to get out of bed for a few hours. The coffee stays hot for at least four hours and is never burned because there is no hot plate on this machine.

I only have two cons:

1) Because of the metal items on this device, I expected it to be less plasticy and feel more sturdy than other coffee makers I have bought. That’s not really the case. It feels flimsy like most coffee makers. But in the end, that apparently doesn’t matter.

2) We had a week where the pot kept over-flowing and spilling out on to the kitchen counter while brewing. Turns out this happens if you twist the carafe lid too tight. Now we know and haven’t had that problem since.

Also, I ended up buying this Permanent Gold Cone Coffee Filter and it fits perfectly in to the basket, saving the waste of hundreds of paper cones.

By: J. Robinson

J. Robinson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:34:24 +0000

Coffee all over the counter!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I have had this coffee maker for about 2 years. It is loud but makes good coffee under normal conditions. The problem comes when you inevitably forget to put the lid back on after pouring the water in from the carafe and press the brew button. When this happens you come back to coffee and grounds all over the counter and floor. While it might sound easy enough to just remember to put the lid on, over the past 2 years this has happened to me at least 10 times. If you have a great memory then this may work well for you. Personally, I am going to buy another coffee maker that doesn’t stress me out. Drinking coffee is supposed to be an enjoying experience and this coffee maker has ruined that experience for me for the last time.