As we build our careers we take on more responsibility and authority. Building trust and helping build the community around you is a critical part of your success and how that plays out in your cafe will determine how it plays out in the industry. As a long time trainer and industry leader, Reggie Elliott has embodied these values. We get to talk about his career, how he helped build the coffee community wherever he was, how he trains baristas, and his advice for trainers, leaders, and whoever else has position of influence. Reggie is someone you should listen to.
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Reggie Elliott
Reggie’s coffee career started in 2007 at Murky Coffee in DC once Murky closed he hopped over to Big Bear Cafe (DC) where he became Lead Barista. Later that year he moved to Gothenburg, Sweden where after a brief stint at DaMatteo Reggie ended up being Lead Barista (again) at Mahogny Coffee. While in Gothenburg and inspired by what my former peers were doing back in DC, he started TNT|GBG (Thursday Night Throwdown Gothenburg) which was Sweden’s first monthly latte art competition series. As his personal relationship ended he decided to move to Stockholm where the specialty coffee scene was a bit more robust and continued running TNT’s there (TNT|STHLM.) A brief stint at Johan & Nystrom led to another lead barista position, this time at the cafe/workspace concept COFFICE. He returned to the States briefly to take care of family matters but upon returning to Stockholm he was presented with an opportunity to oversee the coffee program for a new cafe in Bonniers Konsthall, that cafe was called Lanthandelns Espresso.
A business opportunity brought Reggie back to DC as he took over my favorite dive bar, Pharmacy Bar. While that took him away from working in coffee, he maintained a connection to the strong DC community by joining the board at DMV Coffee and helped continue the TNT tradition. Reggie is still on the board. After closing and selling the bar I was brought on to consult on a European-inspired cafe called Emissary in the Dupont Circle area of DC. That took about a year and a half to get open, around that time LaColombe had just opened their third cafe and was about to open their fourth inside of an REI flagship store (with a fifth cafe soon after in early 2017.) Reggie was part of the opening staff of the REI location and by the time the fifth cafe opened near Farragut Square he had been promoted to Regional Trainer.
His run as trainer will be ending by the end of October as a new opportunity was presented that he couldn’t turn down. James Beard Award-winning chef Spike Gjerde is opening a restaurant as well as a coffee bar inside the Line Hotel in Adams Morgan. The cafe is called The Cup We All Race 4 and will be a straightforward coffee bar located in the entrance of the hotel (serving Counter Culture.) The restaurant is A Rake’s Progress and will feature its own dedicated coffee bar as well. As GM/Coffee Director Reggie will be in charge of both coffee concepts. He start there in November.
Reggie also placed 2nd in Sweden’s first AeroPress competition in 2012. And this year (2017) he won the DC Regional AeroPress Competition.
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