An Espresso Industry Leader
Started in 1980, Pacific Espresso places a profound emphasis on exceptional customer service and long-term customer support. Tim O'Connor, the company founder, first began repairing espresso machines when the entire Santa Cruz area boasted only two.  Working increasingly with new operators, O'Connor soon discovered that the need for espresso education was as pressing as the need for machinery; he used buying trips to Italy to amass a wide range of technical and training resources. He developed the premier North American espresso machine cleaner, Puro Caff, which remains an espresso industry standard today.  

After twenty years in the espresso business, O'Connor was overdue for sharing some of his own preferences for espresso flavors and blends. He's quite pleased with the Italian style of espresso, which tends to be softer and very well balanced, but also realizes that American palates prefer big flavors. He tries to bring something of these preferences to the two espresso blends Tazzina Caffè and Siena. The Tazzina coffees are blends of espresso that combine regional characteristics and roast procedures that persuade the best flavors out of the green coffee bean. The result is a delightful, well-balanced and very complex espresso. Furthermore, the substantially higher grades of green coffees we purchase produce up to 50% more yield.  High quality green coffees equal happy, satisfied customers.

In addition to the Tazzina Caffe and Siena blends, O'Connor also developed the Tazzina Ambassador Collection, which blend flavor from a worldwide palate of organic, shade-grown, fairly traded or direct relationship coffees. There are a number of noble certifications for consumers who wish to make a conscious decision when choosing a coffee or espresso to buy or drink. Each certification focuses on specific priorities. At present, there is not one certification that encompasses all social, economic and political causes that face humanity and the environment. The Rain Forest Alliance focuses on wildlife conservation, strictly controlled agro-chemical usage for non-organic farmers, waste and water management, soil conservation and worker welfare. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center certifies some coffees as "bird-friendly." Fair Trade coffees give additional assistance to the poorest family farmers. Direct relationship coffees come to us through coffee certification labs that work directly with the farmers to educate them in perfecting their growing or processing techniques to improve their coffee quality and providing them avenues for better pricing for small village co-ops and individual farmers.

Today, O'Connor works actively on research and development projects with the Italian companies and individuals whose expertise created today's espresso marketplace. In addition to his work promoting better understanding of espresso brewing, coffee quality, and equipment, O'Connor still devotes a great deal of his energy to front-line customer service.

Pacific Espresso has always led the market with its service and education expertise. It continues this tradition with Tazzina Espresso and Coffee.