You don’t need to be the best barista in the city. Being the one regulars ask for is already a career.

The ranking you are imagining does not exist and nobody is keeping it. Best in the city is unmeasurable, which makes it a poor target, while being the one a few dozen people ask for is achievable and already enough to live on. Local and specific beats global and vague. The second is also the only one customers ever experience.

So set the target at a size that can actually be hit: twenty people who want you to make it. Learn the regulars’ orders, stay consistent on your worst days, be easy to deal with. That is a real position and it is available inside a year.