Mexican Drugtrafficking “Legend” Jesus Malverde Inspires A New Type Of Beer

You know how some cultural references get lost in translation? Describing someone as “La Leche” in Spain means they’re cool. A teenager telling his crew in the States that his skateboard is “the shit” could be construed by foreigners as meaning the kid rides a piece of dung. In Mexico, drinking a beer inspired by a legendary drug trafficker (that may or may not have existed) is not only encouraged, but it’s commended in a culture obsessively intrigued by Narcos and their lifestyle. So when Minvera Brewery in Guadalajara shipped out it’s beer last April, people started chugging away, symbolically pouring out a few drops for the “Robin Hood” and “Patron Saint” of drug traffickers with every drop that dribbled down their chins.

The beer’s maker, the small Minerva Brewery in Guadalajara, is donating 1 percent of its profits to a chapel dedicated to Malverde in the city of Culiacán. The company says the beer is not meant to glamorize the drug trade.
“We’re just trying to honor a Mexican legend, that’s all,” said Jesús Briseño, the brewery’s general manager.
Historians are unsure whether Jesús Malverde ever existed. But legend says he was born in the late 1800s and embarked on a life of crime in Sinaloa, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor during the reign of Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz. He was executed by the Sinaloa state governor in 1909, the stories say.

Ok. So the guy may be a hero the way “Sonny” was a hero in “A Bronx Tale.” But some people have a problem with this marketing scheme. Sinoloa civic groups cried foul and Wal-Mart won’t carry the stuff, which doesn’t say much in our opinion. Here’s an idea, why not create a beer for, lets say, the poor indigenous population in Mexico and donate every penny to help in the fight against poverty. Yeah, ludicrous isn’t it? We know.

Mexican brewery taps name of crime legend [AZ Central]
Image [Daylife]