Colorado native Jordan Gardenhire moved to Los Cabos, Mexico in 2004 and opened Baja Brewing Company, the first craft brewery in Baja California Sur, with his father, Charlie, in 2007.
Baja Brewing Company has since grown into a sizable operation that just so happens to be located on a particularly beautiful Pacific coast. The company makes six beers, including an oatmeal stout and Mexican IPA, and runs three cantinas across Los Cabos. It has also played a major role in Mexico’s ascendant craft brewing scene.
“People judge Mexican macrobrews and assume craft brews will be the same quality,” Jordan told FoodGPS in 2015, “But just like in the U.S., craft beer in Mexico is focused on quality first, and the brewer community is just as ready to experiment with the art as their American counterparts.”
We caught up with Jordan to discuss what he would drink on a desert island, and his first beer crush.
1. What’s your desert-island beer?
A session IPA, or maybe Alpine Hoppy Birthday. Or Baja Brewing 10 Year.
2 What’s the beer that made you fall in love with beer?
It was a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA at a Quentin Tarantino double feature at the Alamo [Drafthouse] in Austin, Tex.
3. FMK three beer types: IPA, pilsner, sour?
F-IPA, K-Pilsner (kill as in, drink it fast), F-Sour. Those aren’t the marrying types.
4. You’re on death row. What’s your last supper beer?
Barley wine, perhaps barrel-aged.
5. You can only drink one beer for the rest of your life. What is it?
Odell Brewing 90 Shilling.
6. What’s the best and worst beer in your fridge right now?
Now that I’ve poured out that Corona… There’s an Epic Sour IPA, I bet that’s good.
7. If you could no longer drink beer, what would be your beverage of choice?
Mezcal, straight.
