The reach of Álvarez’s beverages, along with other coca-infused products, remains limited to artisanal fairs in Bolivia and Peru, countries where the leaf is legal — so as long as it is not used to make cocaine. As for the rest of the world, a United Nations convention classifies coca leaf as a narcotic and imposes a blanket prohibition on drugs.

Bolivia’s government is reviving its decadeslong push not only to destigmatize the plant and make it legal to export but also to create a…