Be careful what you dream (it may come true)

James Harper

It's 2011, and we're at the World Barista Championships.

On stage, they're announcing the winners, as in who's going to be this year's World Barista Champion.

In the middle of this cheering crowd is a man from El Salvador, who is wiping his eyes.

Oh my God, I think I cried like a baby.

His name is Federico Bolaños, and he's understandably emotional because his dream is on the cusp of coming true.

You see, Federico is a barista championship coach.

And for the last couple of years, he's been coaching a young Salvadoran to win these championships and fulfill his dream.

Federico Bolaños

We've been competing three years in a row, putting all our energy into that.

I mean, like, relentlessly into that.

James Harper

The kid Federico has been coaching for all these years is now one of three competitors left to win this championship.

It was terrible.

It was hugely, hugely scary.

Federico is intimidated because he's from El Salvador, a relatively poor country.

Yet the winners of these competitions have always come from rich countries.

And this year might not be any different.

Next to Alejandro, the competitor that Federico trained, is America and Australia.

And they are literally, physically towering over Alejandro.

But the audience today is on Alejandro's side.

They shout his name and then they break into a chorus of Salvador, Salvador.

The time comes to announce third place.

Alejandro turns to his left and stares at the American competitor.

His eyes are wide open in disbelief.

Just three years before, he was working at a Wendy's drive-thru in the capital of El Salvador, supporting his parents on less than $300 a month.

They finally announce second place.

If America is called, Alejandro is going to be crowned world barista champion.

Federico Bolaños

It was magical.

It was just unbelievable.

James Harper

Alejandro is left standing alone on stage.

His hands cover his mouth, his eyes puff up red.

Back in the crowd, Federico watches Alejandro lift the first place trophy above his head.

And he turns to his business partner.

Federico Bolaños

We said to ourselves, we can die tomorrow.

And we did a good thing on earth.

We changed someone's life.

For good.

I mean, his kids will not struggle so much as he did.

James Harper

But Federico has a problem.

Federico co-owns three cafes in El Salvador.

But if he continues sinking money into these expensive competitions, he might lose them all.

Federico Bolaños

But, and it's very expensive to do it, for sure.

See, the thing is, the Chinese have this saying that says, be careful what you dream, because it can become true.

James Harper

What do you do when you've achieved a life goal?

Aim bigger?

Quit?

What Federico chooses will change his life and El Salvador in ways he wants, and ways he doesn't.

And at the end of it all, I'm going to ask him, did you make the right choice?

I'm James Harper, and this is Filter Stories.

The untold stories hidden in your cup of coffee.

It's not easy being young and poor in El Salvador.

News presenter

There are an estimated 60,000 gang members in El Salvador.

James Harper

Many of those 60,000 gang members are young Salvadorans.

It's not hard to understand why.

Gangs offer status, and status is hard to get if you grow up poor.

News presenter

Violence has now risen to levels that haven't been seen since the country's civil war.

James Harper

Many also join gangs because they live in gang-controlled areas and they want to feel safe.

News presenter

In El Salvador these days, there's one murder an hour for a pretty small country, only 6 million people.

James Harper

And the gangs also make a lot of money.

Alejandro Mendez

And they're involved in drug running, extortion and killing.

Who are you?

I am Alejandro Mendez.

I am the 2011 World Barista Champion.

James Harper

Alejandro's story shows what it's like trying to get ahead as a young, poor Salvadoran outside of the gangs.

Alejandro Mendez

I was born here in San Salvador.

The city is called Ciudad Delgado.

James Harper

If you google Ciudad Delgado, you'll see it makes the top 10 list for El Salvador's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Now, Alejandro never cared for coffee, but he wanted an education.

So, he tried to attend university.

I was studying modern languages.

His family pulled their money together to help him through, but just one year in, his father was made redundant and he struggled to find new work.

Alejandro Mendez

So, the only person that could get money to the house was me.

So, Alejandro dropped out of university and, before long, was taking orders at a Wendy's drive-thru on minimum wage.

Which was, in that time, $130 every 15 days.

So, it was almost $300, let's say.

James Harper

Alejandro supported his parents and siblings on less than $300 a month.

Rewinding a couple of years and hopping to a different corner of San Salvador, Federico Polanos, Alejandro's future trainer, refused to touch coffee.

So, I thought it was very bitter and the experience, it was just unbearable.

But one day, he's at someone's house, he's really drowsy, needs some caffeine, and they offer him a cup of coffee that was grown on their family farms.

Federico Bolaños

And I couldn't believe it.

I mean, it was a very revealing experience of what coffee was.

Federico had never tasted anything like it.

It was sweet, with notes of chocolate.

And my mind started spinning and I said, why isn't this available everywhere?

And she says, well, because the history of our country is that the best coffee produced is always exported.

And in that moment, I said, there's a huge opportunity here.

I mean, the vision was to make a world-class coffee available for consumers in El Salvador.

James Harper

With some business partners, Federico begins Viva Espresso.

If you visited El Salvador 10 years ago, Viva Espresso would have been one of the few places you could get a good cup of coffee.

He called me that day.

He called me that day.

So back to Alejandro.

One day, he applies for a job at Viva Espresso and walks in for an interview.

And suddenly this young guy appeared.

Alejandro tells Federico his story, you know, dropping out of university to support his parents.

And Federico falls in love with the story.

Federico Bolaños

It was just clear as a day that this guy was an amazing person.

This guy had good values in his life and with so much potential.

I mean, you could see it in his eyes.

James Harper

Alejandro applied for a job at a very interesting time.

A few years before, Federico had been gripped by the barista competitions.

He first found them at a trade show in America.

Federico Bolaños

As I walked into the competition area, with the stands full of people and cheering for the competitors like they were gladiators in the arena.

It was just an immediate feeling.

It was such a great energy.

I said, I want to do this for the rest of my life.

This is what I want to do.

James Harper

All right, here's a quick primer on how these competitions work.

Alejandro would have 50 minutes to brew some of the best tasting coffee in the world for a panel of judges.

He has to tell the story of where the beans are from.

And he has to push the envelope of the barista profession.

For the next three years, Federico puts everything into creating a winning routine for Alejandro.

Here's one of his business partners.

Federico business partner

They train from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

Federico Bolaños

But what are you doing for 10 hours a day?

Just training in a closed room.

What you perfect is everything.

The way you move, the way you blink, the exact words, the amount of coffee, the extraction rate.

I'm going to bore you with all the details.

But it's just every day focusing on the little details.

James Harper

Federico is spending so much time with Alejandro in the basement, he can't hear how quiet his cash registers are.

Federico business partner

The current situation has changed his way of life.

James Harper

Here's one of his business partners again.

Federico business partner

The country is in a huge economic depression.

James Harper

So there was a recession in El Salvador.

Federico business partner

Yes.

James Harper

This is the Great Recession of 2008.

And before long, the waves of this recession hit their third café.

Federico Bolaños

So we had chosen to open a big shop, the biggest shop of ours, in a huge commercial building that it took years to fill.

James Harper

Federico forks out for salaries, rent.

But that tower of steel and glass above the café stays mostly empty.

Meanwhile, these competitions are costing Federico a fortune.

It was a lot of money.

Alejandro Mendez

This is Alejandro again, the soon-to-be world champion.

I don't want to invest in coffee, accessories, time flights, hotels.

James Harper

We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, all in.

Yeah, yeah.

For a country with a 30% poverty rate.

Yeah, that's right.

But Federico is running on passion.

Put a number on it.

What did it cost?

Federico Bolaños

I have no idea, man.

If I knew what the cost was, maybe I would have not done it.

It was much better not to know.

James Harper

However, if Alejandro could win, it might be a marketing game-changer for Federico's struggling cafés.

And when he does win, a few months later, El Salvador blows up.

Alejandro Mendez

Here's the champion, Alejandro.

The thing is that people realise, because in the news, you know, there's a boy who won the World Barista Championship in El Salvador, and the people just start to come.

James Harper

Alejandro won the championships by serving a Salvadoran coffee that tasted like a fruit salad covered in creamy chocolate.

This is great news for Federico and his business partners, because they serve the best Salvadoran coffees in town.

Here's one of his business partners again.

Federico business partner

In that time, they say, Oh, OK, really, we have the best coffee in the world?

Let's drink it.

James Harper

Meanwhile, Alejandro's life changes forever.

He becomes a barista rock star.

Coffee organisations fly him across the world.

And then, a few months go by, and the news cycle moves on.

Alejandro Mendez

I didn't see much change in stuff.

James Harper

It's a bit underwhelming.

Alejandro Mendez

Yeah, yeah.

Federico Bolaños

And sales go back to normal.

Immediately after this happened, we didn't know what we had in our hands.

And if we would have been more business-focused and maybe more financially intelligent, we would have stopped and capitalised on this a lot more.

James Harper

And now, Federico is back to where he started before Alejandro won.

His cafes are too quiet, and these competitions cost a lot of money.

Federico Bolaños

But it was such a big impact on many of the young baristas of our company.

It just made everyone realise, hey, this can be done.

This is not impossible.

James Harper

Federico's new problem is that he's staring into the eyes of dozens of young, passionate baristas.

Federico business partner

Everyone was telling Federico, I need you to train me.

Please, I want to compete, I want to compete, I want to compete.

James Harper

And they all have stories just like Alejandro's.

Federico Bolaños

So we couldn't even stop.

It was just, please, me, me, me.

Next year, I want to be, please train me, train me.

And I was like, of course, I mean, why not?

I couldn't help myself.

James Harper

It's 2013, and the next championships are being held in Melbourne, Australia.

Federico has also found his next Alejandro, a young guy called William.

Around this time, one of Federico's business partners takes on more of a management role, and she can feel something is off.

Federico business partner

She tells Federico, I believe that going to Melbourne, it will be very expensive for us as a company.

You did what you dreamed.

Now we have the championship.

Now let's rescue Vivo Espresso, right?

James Harper

Federico hears the message loud and clear.

Federico Bolaños

Yeah, it was a strain for the company, and I put a lot of pressure and weight on top of it.

Federico business partner

But at the same time, he was sure of the talent of William, and he knew that it was the right moment.

James Harper

Federico's business partner gets Federico's passion.

It's her passion too, but it's also her business, and going to Australia will sink it lower with debt.

Federico business partner

What?

James Harper

No prizes for guessing what Federico said he was going to do.

Federico business partner

I was like trying to kill him.

WBC Announcer

A big round of applause for competitor number two, barista champion of El Salvador, William Hernandez.

Federico business partner

So William competed, he won the nationals, we went to Melbourne, and he was third in the world.

So it was crazy.

WBC Announcer

Competitor number two, barista champion of El Salvador, William Hernandez.

James Harper

Federico has now helped two Salvadoran boys get into the finals of one of the most difficult coffee competitions in the world.

His ambitions inflate one more time.

Federico Bolaños

I started dreaming about making the first woman barista champion.

James Harper

But when he lands back in El Salvador, he has a mutiny on his hands.

Alejandro Mendez

Most of the employees were not happy because sometimes they didn't pay in the right time.

James Harper

This is some serious cash flow problems.

Alejandro Mendez

Yeah, yeah, it was.

James Harper

Alejandro, the former barista champion, has been comparing himself to other former champions who have gone on to open roasteries and cafes.

And here he is stuck in the basement of a cafe training Federico's other baristas.

Alejandro Mendez

I need to get out.

I mean, I need to breathe.

I need money, more money.

He raises this with his boss, Federico.

He says, look, Alejandro, right now the company is not OK.

James Harper

But he and many other Viva Espresso baristas decide now is the time to spread our wings.

Alejandro Mendez

The hardest part of that decision is how I can tell Federico that I live.

Because I love them.

They were very good with me.

He gets very mad.

He was pretty mad with me.

James Harper

Federico puts on a brave face as more and more baristas walk out the door.

Federico Bolaños

Look, like I said, it didn't feel easy.

It wasn't easy.

But at the same time, I also have to say that I'm a big soccer fan.

And the way I saw it was that we were building Barcelona.

We were not Messi.

Messi was Alejandro.

So we knew that we had the most important thing, which was the company that could produce more of them.

James Harper

Unfortunately, Federico is out of time.

The company needs outside investors.

And they find some.

But there's a catch.

They wanted to buy the whole thing.

Federico was going to lose the cafes that had brought us the world's first barista champion from a developing country.

Federico Bolaños

It was like, how can I say this, like a baby that we had nurtured and grown.

James Harper

When they sell, the new owners don't share Federico's passion for the competitions.

And before long, he's out.

El Salvador has never since got into the finals of the World Barista Championships.

I ask Federico, what would you have done differently?

Federico Bolaños

I made many, many mistakes by being unbalanced, by focusing on just one side of the business, which was just the quality of the business and not the management of the business.

Life passes you the bill.

If you make a mistake, you're going to pay for it.

And that's how we rationalized that this was the bill that we would have to pay.

James Harper

And then something remarkable happens.

All the baristas who left Viva Espresso went off to start their own cafes.

Alejandro, the 2011 world champion.

He got some barista friends together, they pooled their money, and started a coffee roastery on the thinnest of shoestrings.

Alejandro Mendez

Our first investment was $105 per partner, so we were four.

James Harper

So you had $420 as capital.

Alejandro Mendez

Yeah, yeah.

And we bought a bag of coffee.

We rent a roaster, we roast the coffee and we sell it.

Then we bought two bags of coffee with that.

James Harper

Today, Alejandro is the co-owner of the Four Monkeys Roastery.

Federico taught Alejandro what good coffee is.

And now Alejandro is spreading the gospel across El Salvador.

El Salvador has been growing delicious coffee for hundreds of years, but because the best stuff was always exported, many Salvadorans never drank it.

Federico, Viva Espresso, winning the World Barista Championships helped change all of that.

WBC Announcer

Okay.

James Harper

Oh my God.

And if you ever visit El Salvador, which I really recommend you do, it's a beautiful country for tourists.

I recommend going on a coffee shop tour.

You'll run into many former Viva Espresso employees and you'll taste some of the best coffees the country has to offer.

Salvadoran Barista

Where else do you want to go, sir?

Federico Bolaños

Are you tired?

James Harper

I'm caffeined out, mate.

I'm out.

Federico Bolaños

I think you need a coffee.

I am out.

James Harper

Federico soon embarked on a career as a barista championship coach.

In 2019, a Korean company paid him for two years to train their barista.

WBC Announcer

And all that leaves me to do is to announce the 2019...

James Harper

And she became the second woman to ever win the World Barista Championships.

WBC Announcer

...representing South Korea, Ju Young!

Federico Bolaños

If I had to do what I did, I would do it again.

There's nothing more fulfilling than achieving a dream.

It's something that I'm going to take with myself to the grave, forever.

James Harper

One thing you can do is to buy beans from local, independent coffee roasters online and just avoid the temptation of buying coffee at the supermarket.

And if you want to support marginalized farmers while you're doing that, you can visit marginalizedfarmers.org to find an independent roaster who supports small-scale, struggling coffee farmers.

I'm using this self-isolation downtime to create many new episodes for you.

I have a lot of tape from my travels last year that need to be turned into episodes.

So, now's the time to do it.

Since I sat down last year with Federico to record this story, he has started a new roastery.

It's called Alchemia Coffee.

You can find them on Instagram.

I want to give a big shout-out to Hannah Smith.

She's a Berlin-based voiceover artist.

She helped in the early stages of crafting this episode and helping me figure out how to tell it.

If you need a very experienced voiceover artist, head to hannavoice.com.

The guitar music in this episode was composed by Håkon Vade.

He's a Norwegian I met last year.

If you need some guitar music composed, I've listed his contact details in the episode description.

Dom Edgley mastered some of the tracks in this episode.

You can find more of his work at domedgleysound.com.

And the Filter Stories logo was created by Headquarters, a branding and packaging design team.

You can find more of their work at headquarters.studio. Take care out there, and I'll speak to you next time.