My Cicerone Journey: Jesus Martir

Jesus Martir is an Advanced Cicerone located in Tijuana Mexico. Here he shares how his Cicerone certification journey helps with his daily roles and has shaped his experience in the industry.

What’s your current role, and how does being an Advanced Cicerone help you with it?

I’m  the Operations Manager at Baja Canning, a mobile canning company based in Tijuana, Mexico. After 4 years in this business many clients have become regular (and good friends) because of the additional attentions my expertise has allowed me to give, their products become my products too, being an ex-professional brewer, BJCP certified beer, cider and mead judge plus what I have learned from the certification, really helps to talk evocatively about new beers with front of house and also having a technical conversation with the production teams, trying to fine tuning little aspects of every beer so they can fit a category when I bring along said beers to competitions with me.    

Could you tell us about the beginning of your journey in beer education? What hooked you in?

Being an Electromechanical Engineer, when I started learning about brewing beer in 2016, the meticulous process of controlling every aspect during beer production really got me hooked, in reality brewing beer is applied engineering with a resulting product that I love.

Are there any particular study techniques you’ve found helpful that you’d like to share?

Flash cards, flash cards, flash cards, you can study whenever you have a couple minutes, every day in Baja Canning we have a 20 minute sanitation process, that’s a 20 minute opportunity to study! It is not all about memorizing, you have to really understand the subject.

How would you characterize the beer scene in Mexico at the moment? Are there any notable trends or unique events happening?

In the Baja California region of Mexico I think we are “coming out” of the shadow of one of the greatest beer scenes in the world, Southern California, with help from our friends north of the border while also brewing unique “Baja-style” beers. A lot of great binational collaborations brews are coming out that really emphasize the symbiotic relation of Baja-SoCal beer scenes.

Mexico recently won several medals at the 2024 World Beer Cup across various styles, including Kolsch, Export Stout, American Pale Ale, and American Style Stout. Are there any beer styles that are trending among local breweries right now?

Apart from all your hazy hop bombs, fruited sours and traditional brews the market, brewers and competitions are really pushing the “Mexican lager” style beers, Pale, Amber, Dark, you name it, refreshing beers that we all grew up with but with a craft mentality and portraying each brewery’s own personality.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with someone trying to start in the beer industry in Mexico?

Be passionate and never stop learning, whenever you think you have it all dialed down, you know it all, that's when you will start to “Chocar con pared” (to collide with a wall) as we say, because there is always room for growth.