Coffee story #11, Rodolfo Barranco

I'M NOT A BARISTA: Voices of the Coffee World

Aeropress Regional Competition Finalist of 2021, Rodolfo Barranco, always dreamed of being the one behind the bar preparing coffee.

Rodolfo @robadgal, now 23 years old, hails from Mexico City and has been working with coffee for six years. Next on his agenda is reaching the final in the National Latte Art Competition.

Rodolfo landed his first job at only 18 years old at Fractal Café where their specialty is a flat white. Fractal Café owns a bright red, old-school VW truck where they serve coffee, milkshakes, and waffles at music festivals around the city. He says working at music festivals was extremely demanding.

“The work of a barista is always undervalued.”

From Fractal Café, he moved his barista talents to Cardinal Casa de Café @casacardinal where his love for Mexican coffee originated. At Cardinal. he was surrounded by people who motivated him and supported his dreams – who shared the same goal as he did. He managed to make it to the finals of the 2021 Aeropress Regional Competition, going above and beyond the expectations he set for himself. It was also at Cardinal where Rodolfo experienced his first really good cup of coffee – yellow-honey processed coffee and,

“I swear it tasted like pineapple.”

In his 23 years, he admits to going through many challenges and changes which ultimately led him to where he is now. Unfortunately, Rodolfo was forced to leave Cardinal because he didn’t have enough capital for supplies to practice for the National Art Latte Competition.

“It was a difficult decision because it was a job that taught me the value of work and the love for what I did.”

Qūentin Café is where he is currently practicing his latte art skills.

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To read more about the challenges Rodolfo faced throughout his career which has led him to where he is now – practicing for the National Latte Art Competition – click the link below
https://notabarista.org/rodolfo-barranco/

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