Sweet Kicks: 15 Years of Ona, On Your Feet!

2023 marks our 15th anniversary here at Ona, and we felt the occasion called for something completely new for us!

In celebration, we have partnered with Australia's exclusive customization brand, Customs Den, to bring our Gold Label Blend, Raspberry Candy, to life in the form of limited-edition Nike Dunks. Thirty pairs will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis and can be pre-ordered directly through Customs Den's website from 23 October to 6 November.

Raspberry Candy's story began in 2015 when our founder, Sasa Sestic, travelled to Seattle to represent Australia in the World Barista Championships. His mission was to revolutionize coffee with a technique borrowed from the winemaking world called Carbonic Maceration (CM). By sealing coffee cherries in an oxygen-depleted environment with added carbon dioxide, a longer fermentation process reduced the chances of spoilage and unveiled more aromatic and confectionery flavour notes.

Sasa's presentation centered upon a washed CM Sudan Rume lot from Colombia's Las Nubes Farm. He blended the Sudan with a second CM lot for the milk base variation, processed instead as whole cherries and finished naturally. The result, when paired with milk, became an Ona cornerstone. With an explosion of raspberry candy and melted white chocolate notes, Sasa earned the prestigious title of World Barista Champion and created a blend that has since become our signature coffee.

A WBC-winning blend does not necessarily translate smoothly to accessibility on a consumer level. Following the victory, Ona's Head of Coffee, Sam Corra, and Head Roaster, Danny Wilson, endeavoured to bring Sasa's creation to the public sphere so that any coffee enthusiast following the competition could try the blend. Three key components were thus essential:

A heavy base coffee, ideally a supernatural or aerobic-natural CM.

An aromatically fruity and well-textured natural coffee bringing raspberries to the fore.

A vibrant coffee, washed or CM-washed, to counteract the base and bring acidic sweetness.

Through intensive experimentation and development, Raspberry Candy was born, and Sasa's signature was instilled in Ona's story. We submitted Raspberry Candy to the annual Golden Bean awards that same year, winning the milk-based category and simultaneously taking home the Roaster Champion title.

To receive the confirmation and encouragement of the wider coffee community was the true prize, and it told the team their mission was accomplished. To this day, Raspberry Candy is our best-selling offering, and it seems fitting to celebrate our 15th anniversary with our signature blend!