A coffee maker includes a water reservoir, an in-line water heater, a brew basket for receiving coffee grinds, and a water passage between the reservoir and the brew basket. The passage passes through the in-line water heater for delivering heated water to the brew basket. A a bi-directional valve disposed in the water passage between the water reservoir and the in-line water heater to permit substantially unrestricted flow in a first direction and restricted flow in a second direction. A controller can be provided for altering the valve between an unrestricted bi-directional mode and a unidirectional mode.