Costa Coffee Barista of the Year finalist comes from Swindon

Aidan Barnett, 26, from Redhouse, has been at the West Swindon District Centre Costa Coffee stores for almost 10 years. 

He recently entered the Costa Stars Barista of the Year competition - which works a little bit like the Great British Bake Off - and made the finals of the whole contest alongside 10 others. 

My manager got me to enter a local heat challenge in the Swindon area," he said. 

"I qualified from that and then went into a regional competition with six other people.

"I  got through that one and took part in the UK finals where I was in the top eleven in the whole country."

In the local heat, Aidan had to make certain drinks from the Costa Coffee range to a high standard.

Then in the regionals, he had to create his own hot version of a drink and make the recipe for it as well as make four unknown drinks perfectly that were given to him on the day.

The final was making a hot drink into a cold version, making four drinks perfectly again, and then making two flat whites but with three different patterns that were chosen from.

The final took place in front of a life audience with each barista doing their thing on a stage and it was presented by the host of The Masked Singer, comedian Joel Dommett. 

Sadly, this was where Aidan's journey ended, but he expressed his happiness at his achievement. 

"I'm really happy and really proud of myself to get that far, my boss was also very proud," he said. 

Aidan's boss, Izabela Duraj-Zych, 39, has worked with Aidan for a decade having been at the Costa Coffee in West Swindon District Centre for 12 years. 

Knowing him well, she encouraged Aidan to take part in the competition thinking that he'd be perfect for it. 

She said: "It was really good to see how he progressed, he knew how to make a coffee and everything, but his confidence when he was on the stage grew and grew.

"He did it and he did very well, to reach the top eleven in the whole country.

"I am extremely proud of him."