I bought this coffeemaker because my C***********t product started leaking in less than 2 years. The reviews were excellent on the Zojirushi maker, so I made the investment and purchased this model. Good news--the coffee was excellent. The metal carafe eliminates breakages. I like the iced coffee feature, looking forward to using it. I like that the water container can be taken out rather than pouring water into it (and spilling it).Be prepared for a high-maintenance product.The cons: I don't always read the instructions, but I'm glad I took the time. I even used a yellow highlighter for all of the intricacies! If you like your coffee very hot (as I do), you have to take 2 extra steps--heating water for the carafe before making the coffee, and then heating the mug before pouring coffee. I was spoiled with my old pot. All I had to do was make the sure the 'H' button was pressed.You have to unplug the coffeemaker after each use.After pouring coffee, you have to put the carafe on a flat surface and then release the carafe button.I'm hopeful this will work out well and that all of the prep will guarantee a successful purchase.I use a coffee maker with a glass carafe and a Zojirushi insulated thermal carafe every day, since my husband and I wake up at different times and we both enjoy a hot cup of coffee in the morning. I thought this coffee maker was the answer since it comes with an insulated carafe instead of glass, then we would only have one carafe to wash in the morning instead of two. Unfortunately this Zojirushi coffee maker is a bit higher and the steam vents being on top of the the unit escaping steam under our cabinet would be a problem for the wood cabinet and the under cabinet lights.I have been using this for a few weeks now and can't find much to complain about. The only thing would be the opening to the carafe. It is hard to get in and clean. The carafe otherwise is really good and keeps coffee hot. The top of the carafe seals closed after filling when you pull it out from under the filter. The water reservoir comes off so you can fill it at the sink. Love that. I don't know why it is sooo hard to find a coffee maker. I might order another one for a rental I have.I upgraded from a 7-year old Cuisinart DCP-1200. That model was great until it started leaking.The Zojirushi is not particularly "fancy" but it makes a fantastic cup of coffee. Temperature and flavor are excellent. The design is very refined. I used a burr grinder and have tested with the recommended water/grounds ratio. I have to say that this is an upgrade from my old system.I've enjoyed my Zojirushi ricemaker for years and this coffeemaker enjoys the same quality focus on engineering and elegant design.This is our second Zojirushi coffee maker. We have enjoyed our EC-BD15 for almost 10 years , but this unit may be on its last leg. I researched many coffee makers including the recommendations made by American Test Kitchen. ATK did not test this model. I was tempted by ATK's recommendation, but I decided to give Zojirushi EC-YTC100 a try. This did not disappoint.The coffee maker gives an option of faster brew time (Time Saver function), which is nice because this shortens brew time, and the brew time is closer to the recommendation by the Specialty Coffee Association (if you care about things like this). This make and model does not have the SCA endorsement, but I don't really care because we get consistent excellent brew results.We use more coffee than what Zojirushi recommends. If you use Zojirushi's table in its manual, the coffee:water weight ratio is almost 1:30. This brews weak coffee. The recommended ratio is around 1:20 or greater. We use about 1:18 ratio, i.e. 1 g coffee to 18 mL water; or if you are used to US imperial measurements, 1 oz coffee to 2.1 cups water (*** the cup here refers to your kitchen measuring cup and NOT the "cup" markings on the coffee maker. The volumes of "cup" markings on coffee makers vary widely among manufactures, but EC-YTC100's markings based on its manual is 1.5 L for 10 "cups" or 150 mL per "cup" marking or 0.6 standard kitchen measuring cup in the US). But you can always adjust to your taste. However, this present a potential problem. At maximum brewing volume of 10 cups (1.5 L), we would need 83 g of coffee (Zojirushi recommends 51 g for 10 cups). This may well be over their design capacity and cause the coffee grounds to overflow. We have not brewed at maximum as we stop at 8 cups (1.2 L) and use 67 g of coffee.EC-YTC100 claims a brewing temperature of 200 deg F, and I measured 196 F out of the "shower head". The "shower head" is the distribution of water as the hot water is dispersed over the grinds. This model has a piece that disperses the water and the water drips over the entire basket instead of a narrow concentrated stream. This allows for better percolation of the hot water through the grinds.With the cap on, the thermal carafe keeps the coffee hot all morning and well into the afternoon. I like this carafe model because the glass coffee model with a warmer tends to burn the coffee as it sits on the warmer.Attention to details is excellent as with all Zojirushi products. The shower head piece, the brew basket, and the water tank can all be easily removed and cleaned. The various silicone gaskets around the carafe cap and the valves can all be removed and cleaned if needed. The removable water tank is extremely nice for ease of filling. The permanent filter works well, but my wife still prefers using paper filter.Occasional descaling is needed using citric acid. The unit will alert you when it needs descaling. Do yourself a favor, buy food grade 100% citric acid in bulk, and you can buy it cheaply here at Amazon with resealable bag. Buy a cheap food scale (I bought Amazon brand for $10). Now you don't have to pay the outrageous price of Zojirushi branded citric acid (30g pouch). You can clean/descale to your heart's content. The scale is nice also to measure out your coffee. It's a kitchen gadget I didn't think I needed, but now that I have it, I really need it.Overall, we are very satisfied with this coffee maker, its design, functionality, and most importantly, the quality of the brew. With proper maintenance, I anticipate another 10 years of ownership.In the past 10-years I've had four or five coffee makers. I love the taste of coffee made with a Lecrueset French press, but it's too hard to cleanup, too labor intensive, and if I wanted a hot cup of coffee after jumping all these hoops, I had to make more biolingvwater to preheat my coffee cup. Using a Chemex maker is a bit easier, but keeping the coffee hot is extremely difficult and even dangerous if I forget to turn the burner off. I liked my Cuisinart automatic coffee maker, but it was hard to clean and the plastic parts seem flimsy. This Zojurishu EC-YGC 120 is fabulous in every way. It's easy to clean and the coffee tastes delicious every time. What's most impressive is the coffee is a perfect 200 F, EXACTLY! Considering all its features and the wonderful coffee, it's a bargin. The BONUS is it is sooooo simple to make ice coffee! Buying this coffee maker again would be a no brainer. As an old man from Maine it was a wise choice!After reading reviews for many other coffee makers on Amazon.ca in the $100-200 price range, my partner and I felt discouraged. Too many bad reviews. Then we increased our price range to around $250 and bought this excellent ZOJI Rushi EC-YTC100XB.To save you time on research, here's why we rank the Zoji Rushi Programmable coffee maker 5 STARS:EASE OF USE:This Coffee Maker is intuitive and easy to use and also comes with a manual. The reservoir is removable for easy filling, as is the coffee basket. PLUS it comes with a metal filter that you can remove if you prefer paper filters.PRO-TIP - Filters: The manual warns not to use both metal filter and paper filter together. Simply choose one way or the other. This is because "double filtering" on any coffee pot will result in water not passing into the carafe, and thus grind/coffee overflow will happen. Easy to avoid: Don't double-down on your filters. :)PRO-TIP - Water: Use filtered water, and do not EVER use your coffee pot to fill your reservoir. This is because you do not want oils from your cofee to get into your machine. That will decrease the life-span of the machine and will make your coffee taste bitter.PROGRAMMABLE TIMER:It is programmable up to 24 hours, so your coffee is ready before your clock alarm wakes you. I don't know about you, but Monday mornings are always a little bit easier if my coffee is ready as soon as I step out of bed. It beeps once when the coffee has finished brewing, so you'll hear it.HOW LOUD? Like a microwave sounds when it's done.INSULATED STAINLESS STEEL METAL CARAFE:The ZOJI thermal pot has kept our coffee hot for (at least) 3 hours. We drank it all during that time, so we can't attest to a longer period.HOW HOT? If you're a coffee connoisseur, you'll know that coffee shouldn't be McDonald's grade hot, as that can harm the actual taste of your beans (and lead to burns). The ZOJI Rushi kept it hot enough for "latte style" creamer amounts, without reducing the heat level that much. Still warm and delicious.SMOOTH COFFEE THAT'S NOT BITTER:Due to the precise heating of the ZOJI, and the use of filtered water, the coffee tastes so smooth and rich without a bitter aftertaste. It would taste even better, once we upgrade our grinder to a conical burr grinder. So, if you're a serious coffee lover, and you've found a burr grinder you love, please let me know in your comments!MAKES ICED COFFEE:Just tried it and it's rich, not at all bitter. Drinking mine black now. No sugar needed.PRO-TIP - iced coffee brewing: If you make iced coffee in the metal carafe, DO NOT put the ice in the carafe before brewing. Wait until after brewing to add the ice. (They explain in the guide.) Stir. Then add more ice to your glass.EASY TO CLEAN:PRO-TIP - gentle cleaning. Use a dedicated soft-bristled bottle brush for your coffee pot interior, lid, and basket. This ensures that no other flavours are introduced to your pot. Use a minimal amount of soap.When rinsing, do 1 rinse, dump out the water, then a 2nd rinse where you "swirl" the carafe as you pour out the water. This makes sure that no soap remains around the "lip" of the pot. Repeat this "2nd rinse" method until the pot shows no more soap bubbles.DURABILITY:We just got it this week, so time will tell. However, I can confirm that the parts look durable and if you follow the cleaning/care directions, I'm guessing they will last a while. I'll let you all know if/when this new ZOJIrushi coffee maker stops working.Enjoy your brew and I hope this was helpful.Purchased this after our 14 year old Krupps coffee maker (which we LOVED) finally died. That particular model is no longer being produced so we had to find a new one. Bought this based off all the good reviews and the fact that it had a thermal carafe and programmable timer.Pros:-brews good tasting coffee-programmable timer is dead-easy to use-coffee drips directly into thermal carafe-can brew any volume up to 10 cups.-has cold brew setting (still haven't tried this yet)-very quiet when brewingCons:-quite large. Takes up a significant amount of counter space and is tall.-The beeping that signals when the brewing is complete is loud. Would prefer option to turn the sound off altogether (so it doesn't wake people) or just have a visual (i.e. light) setting instead to indicate when it is ready. A light setting would also help show people when coffee is ready if they happen to miss the beep. Because of the thermal carafe, there is no easy way to see that coffee has been made if you miss the beep.-Coffee comes out hot, but I wish it was even a little hotter (like my Krupps maker) - I like really really hot coffee, just a personal preference.After a few weeks of use, we started using paper filters. We found the permanent filter it comes with still allows some grinds through and it was difficult to clean without getting a good amount of grinds down the sink (since they stick to the filter and need to be rinsed away).Overall happy with purchase so far.Makes really good coffee, which can be auto-programmed to be ready when you get up, and stays hot for a long time in the carafe. Alas, the carafe is hard to clean, and the ridiculously complex "thumb-activated pouring" mechanism in the carafe lid CANNOT BE disassembled to clean, and now, just shy of 1 year, is gummed up and fails to close. PATHETIC. So the carafe might as well not have it at all, and it cools more rapidly now as there is an outlet for steam and heat. STUPID design, not at all as well-thought-out as our original Zojirushi coffee maker that this replaced.Will use it until it dies, because it is otherwise functional, but Will Not Buy This Brand Again.UPDATE: 7-Feb-2021Contacted Zojirushi at the very end of our warranty period, and even thought this FAILED during the warranty, they will not cover it. The carafe lid cannot be cleaned appropriately for a Food Item. LOOK ELSEWHERE for a coffee maker.We needed to purchase a new coffee maker to replace our Breville Precision Brew (that did not last that long). After doing some research and reading reviews, I decided to give this well-known brand a try. It was either this or move up to Technivorm Moccamaster (which is expensive). This was the best value for sure.As coffee lovers, we buy locally roasted beans and grind them fresh before brewing. Quality makes the difference, both in beans and equipment.We have been using for 4 days now. Every day we are draining the pot!! Right to the very last drop! The coffee is SO smooth, and stays HOT. The coffee maker is very QUIET as it brews. So far we LOVE IT!! There is a huge difference in the quality of the coffee compared to our broken Breville Precision Brew (which had a Gold Cup setting).At this point, we are TOTALLY IMPRESSED with the results. With the warm weather here, I can't wait to try the cold coffee setting. The instruction manual is VERY EASY to read!! The machine is VERY EASY to USE!!If you are in the market for a new coffee maker, I HIGHLY recommend this Zoji Rushi EC-YTC100XB...we LOVE IT!Needed a replacement for our fifteen year old Krups coffee maker w/ thermal carafe, so were looking for quality of construction, ease of operation, and best best thermal carafe. Looking at all brands; what we could find to view at local retailers (minimal - most coffee makers offered have glass carafes), and through online reviews, we narrowed our choices down to Cuisinart PerfecTemp DCC-3400, Krups Savoy ET351, and the ZOJI Rushi EC-YTC100XB Coffee Maker. We decided to spend a little more to ensure success, and glad we did. Excellent strong coffee, second to none thermal carafe (for both maintaining temperature, and zero drip), and simple operation and clean-up.