I'm gonna bow out to those with more experience here- I've heard conflicting and varied things about the ego-T, and never thought it would appeal to me, so I haven't had one. The atties look hard to clean, and I've heard of leaks, burnt taste, and lacking flavor. (Exactly as you describe.) THere may be a way to deal with this, but I'm clueless.
Best,
Ande
PS- As I understand the system, you can't direct drip on a tank atty, so with what you've got now, direct dripping probably isn't an option.