WHAT'S the secret to a perfect coffee?

One Brighouse teenager seems to know the answer.

In fact, Chris Ioanna is so sure, he's packing up his coffee beans and heading off to a regional competition!

The 18-year-old has won a place in the Northern heat of the Barista Championships.

The contest at Rotherham on July 31 will see experts battling it out to create the best coffee.

And the teenager reckons he's in with a good chance of being crowned the king of cappucinos - despite having only three months' experience.

Since leaving his BTEC course in public services at Huddersfield Technical College, Chris has been working at the town's Cafe Latino in New Street.

He took his Barista's job as a stopgap, but soon found he loved it so decided to stay on.

He said: "I really took an interest in the job and I found I picked it up quite quickly.

"The director at Cafe Latino put me forward to represent the whole franchise. It's an honour to be picked out of everyone working there."

For the competition, Chris has to present three sets of drinks to four judges.

He has to prepare and create a cappuccino, an espresso and his own signature coffee in just 15 minutes.

The judges mark competitors on areas including taste, aroma, presentation and even how expertly the milk is steamed.

Chris is now working hard to perfect his recipes in time.

He said: "I think my signature drink will be an espresso with a mix of coffee, chocolate and honey but I'm still in the process of making one up.

"Honey is the nicest ingredient for coffee. The secret is knowing how to manipulate the flow of milk and how you pour."

Chris likes to add special touches to the drinks he serves his customers.

He said he is often creating different patterns, like leaves and hearts.

He said: "I even came up with a lion's head the other day.

"Some customers don't even notice, but I think it's nice to add that special touch."

This is all quite impressive for a young man who up until a few months ago was limited in his coffee-making skills to using instant Nescafe!

He said: "I'm really critical of how other people make coffee now.

"My favourite type of coffee is a latte, but it's got to have something in it like a nice flavoured syrup.

"I also like cappuccinos, but espressos are far too strong for me."

Chris says he's excited and nervous about the competition.

"One of the competitors this year came second in the national competition last year, so I'll be watching out for her.

"I'm quite confident about the northern round though.

"My family are really proud of me. Some of my colleagues are coming with me to the competition; they're threatening to wear T-shirts with my face printed on them."

The winner of the regional heat goes through to the national championships in London.

The person who wins the national competition gets the chance to go to Tokyo and compete in the World Barista Championships.