He left the beer business for his health. Now he's brewing coffee, tea and kombucha.

DeWITT – Eric Elliott left his life as an owner of a successful craft beer brewery last fall to live healthier. 

It didn’t take him long for him to get back into the brewing business. This time, though, he’s focused on coffee, tea and kombucha.

He’s the new owner of The Crafted Bean, also called TCB Co., which specializes in nonalcoholic craft coffee cocktails, with shops in Lansing and DeWitt. He’s renaming it Reputation Beverage Co.

“I never thought I’d be in the coffee business," he said. "but it kind of fits."

Elliott used to be half of the Ellison Brewery and Spirits, a Meridian Township operation that was named one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in the country in 2017. (Ellison’s name is a mashup of the last names of Elliott and his former partner Aaron Hanson.) 

He left in October after what he calls an amicable split.

Elliott had already committed to better health as he faced his 36th birthday. 

Both of his parents had passed. His dad, Terry, a retired Motor Wheel Corp. worker, died in a car accident in 2000 at age 55. Elliott was just 17.

Karla, his mother, a postal worker, died from a heart attack at age 67 in 2013, three months before she planned to retire.

Their early deaths weighed on him.

“I’m halfway through my life,” he recalled thinking. “I wanted to make sure I was around.”

He’s married to his DeWitt High School sweetheart, Dr. Jessica Searls-Elliott, a dentist, and they have three children: Lilee, 9; Lucy, 7; and James, 2.

Elliott, a high school athlete, hired Justin Hartig in March of 2018 to help him get in shape and lose weight. He also cut back on drinking.

Hartig is a a professional trainer who owns Human Performance Institute in DeWitt. He’s also the original owner of the coffee shops now owned by Elliott.

Elliott called his transition a “hard reset” after years in the alcohol industry.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, in a brewery you’re drinking every day. Some people see it as a big plus but it has its ups and downs,” he said.

Prior to Ellison, which launched in 2015, he worked as a beer distributor.

 “The beer industry is very late nights, long days and a lot of socializing and drinking,” he said. “The culture was embedded in my DNA.”

Jessica, his wife, said the transition “has been a breath of fresh air.”

“Change is good, and we’re enjoying this new adventure,” she said in an email.

Part of his healthier lifestyle was experimenting in his kitchen with kombucha,  a fermented tea that devotees praise for health benefits. His wife introduced him to it.

That experimentation led to two flavors of kombucha – grapefruit and tart cherry -- he’s now canning and distributing locally. He’s also canning small batches of coffee under Hartig’s Black Sails label and Mexicali Rose, a sparkling tea. The canned beverages are distributed at Horrock's and other locations.

Before he bought the business from Hartig, he spent time in the coffee shops. The first opened in 2016 in DeWitt. Last year, Hartig added another The Crafted Bean in Lansing, next to Moriarity’s on Michigan Avenue.

Elliott said the Michigan Avenue location was his hangout where he’d often work on paperwork for the brewery. He like the vibe.

He purchased part of the business in March and then bought it outright this month as Hartig focused on his career as a personal trainer.

It’s a unique business. Besides the two coffee shops, he has a food truck featuring waffles, in addition to the canned beverages. Elliott said, he's the first canned komucha distributor in the state.

He’s rebranding the entire operation as Reputation Beverage Co.

"The only thing we have in life is our reputation. I’m going to put it out there," he said.

His new logo is a gorilla.There’s no deep meaning about the gorilla, he said. He just likes the strong image.

He's happy with his life's direction.

He’s lost 75 pounds and is home for dinner with the kids at night.

"My work/family life balance is perfect," he said.

Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam.

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