VBM Audrey at the HostMilano 2025 show. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.
Italian espresso equipment maker VBM last week revealed the Audrey espresso machine, the first machine equipped with VBM’s new HX² heat-exchanger technology.
Shown publicly for the first time at the HostMilano event in Milan, the commercial machine’s HX² technology delivers different water temperatures to each group of a multi-group machine without requiring multiple internal boilers. (Read all of DCN’s HostMilano 2025 coverage.)
The single-boiler system maintains the relative simplicity, dependability and lower maintenance needs of traditional heat-exchanger systems while accommodating modern specialty coffee cafes, where different extraction parameters are needed to showcase flavor differences among various single-origin and blended coffees.
Central to the new technology is an old one: the thermostat-controlled heating element designed and patented by VBM founder Carlo Ernesto Valente roughly 40 years ago. In HX², that concept is updated with programmable logic controllers governing heating elements installed inside each heat exchanger. The exchangers still draw heat from the boiler but gain efficiency, stability and precision from their internal heaters.
“We don’t want to replace a technology that has always proven its effectiveness, but rather continue to develop it, enhancing its performance,” VBM CEO Cristiano Osnato said in an announcement of the new equipment. “From this idea came the decision to strengthen the HX technology, the heart of our espresso machines, making it even more appealing to baristas who love to experiment, without giving up the safety and reliability that have always characterized this system.”
The rest of the Audrey is designed to minimize plastics for greater longevity, while balancing aesthetic warmth and refinement. Rounded edges and curved side panels soften the industrial feel of the exposed groups and wands. The VBM diamond insignia is centered decoratively on its side panels, back panel and cup warmer rail. LED lights illuminate the back panel and assist baristas at the groups.
A History in Milan
Founded in Milan by Valente in 1976, VBM entered the coffee industry making commercial machines, then focused on the home market a few years later with the introduction of the Domobar. Today, the company makes three versions of the Domobar and three other lines of commercial equipment under the names Lollo E, Black Moon, Replica and Tecnique.
With the safety certification process currently underway to clear the way for shipments into the United States, the Audrey is available for pre-order now at prices of €4,380 ($5,085) for a single group, and $7,280 and $8,929 for 2- and 3-group machines, respectively.
“This represents the start of a new generation of espresso machines designed for professional use,” a VBM representative told Daily Coffee News. “We can’t yet reveal what’s coming next, but we can assure that VBM will continue on a consistent path of evolution, focusing on simplification, technological refinement and design conceived for those who use our machines every day.”
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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