A machine for brewing coffee, tea or other hot beverages has a hollow base with a top wall beneath the bottom wall of a container for fresh liquid. The top wall has a recess for two annular sealing elements, and the top wall portion beneath the recess has two downwardly extending sleeves. The base confines an electric heater having a liquid admitting inlet connected with one of the sleeves by a first conduit and a liquid discharging outlet connected with a riser in the container by way of a second conduit. The upper end portion of the first conduit extends through the respective sleeve and into the lower part of the corresponding sealing element, and such upper end portion constitutes a cage for the spherical valving element of a check valve which permits fresh liquid to flow from a first nipple of the container toward the inlet of the heater but prevents heated liquid from flowing back into the container. The container has a second nipple which communicates with the lower end of the riser and with the upper end portion of the second conduit. The nipples extend into the corresponding sealing elements.