Nº 04 live · roasted Tuesdays · free San Jose pickup · free shipping on two bags
Folio Nº 04 · Roasting for August 2026
Kenya · Washed

Kiambu Spike

Brown Sugar/Dried Tamarind/Cranberry

A washed Kenya from a single farm in Kiambu, roasted light to light-medium. The fruit and sweetness people love in a Kenya, without the sharp citrus bite.

8 bags this month
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The Folio Nº 04 bag, Kenya Kiambu Spike AA, beside roasted beans

Filter coffee, plainly. Not the Kenya that scours your teeth. Let the cup cool a while, because this one keeps giving up more as it does.

The coffee.

One farm, not a co-op blend. Spike Farm sits at 1,930 metres in the Kaira-ini area of Kiambu, growing SL-28, SL-34 and Ruiru 11, washed the Kenyan way and dried on raised beds. Our importer liked it enough to buy three separate out-turns from the same harvest.

The cup.

Brown sugar and maple to start, turning to spiced sarsaparilla and clove gum as it cools. Tangy like dried tamarind and cranberry, with a long finish of spiced sugars. It has the fruited sweetness people love in a Kenya without the screaming citric edge.

The issue.

Every bag is hand-stamped and numbered in the series. A QR on the back opens the full issue online: the story of the lot, how we roasted it, and a brew note. 250g, roasted fresh the week it ships.

A starting point
15gcoffee
250gwater, 1:16
94°Cjust off boil
45sbloom
2:45–3:15total, medium grind

A pour-over starting point for Nº 04. Go finer or hotter for more body, coarser for a cleaner cup, then dial it to your taste.

What Folio customers say
“Impressively smooth and delicious. I love that I get to try coffee from new and different places.”Elizabeth K.
“This coffee is spectacular! What kind of black magic did you use to do this?”Ash W.
“Rich caramel and butter. Tried it black, then as a cappuccino. The crema was insane.”Matthew G.
“Coffee was beautiful! Could taste the medium roast. 🫶”Priyanshi J.
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Why we chose it
Optional read

I found this type of bean on Reddit, which is one of the ways I source interesting coffees. Someone had posted about the best espresso shot they had ever pulled, better than competition blends, and it was a Kenya from a farm called Spike. So I got curious and researched the farm. I realized the lot the Redditor had bought was the AB type, and the one I wanted was the AA, which our importer rates more highly and marks as not for espresso at all. It's two different separations off the same farm and same harvest. I liked the cupping notes: it has the fruited sweetness people chase in a Kenya, without the screaming citric side that usually comes with it. After the volume of Nº 03, that sounded like exactly the right next issue.

How this became a Folio
The same questions, every issue

One coffee a month means we have to be sure about it.

We tasted a lot of samples and released one. This lot stalled on the recipe we started with, so we rebuilt the roast between batches and held full power all the way to first crack.

Read how we got there
01

The lot we bought

A washed AA from Spike Farm, in the Kaira-ini area of Kiambu, at 1,930 metres. Twelve hectares, planted about twelve years ago in SL-28, SL-34 and Ruiru 11. Pulped on a small electric pulper, fermented 72 hours, washed, then dried on raised beds for about ten days. Grade AA, 17 to 19 screen, 0.2 defects per 300g. Our importer scored it 90.8, high enough to sit in the band they call outstanding (their scale runs to 110, not 100). They liked the farm enough to buy three separate out-turns from that harvest: the AA, the AB and the Peaberry.

02

What we tested

Two 650g batches on a new Aillio Bullet R2 Pro. The first followed a published recipe that steps the power down as the drum climbs, and it stalled at every step: the rate of rise collapsed at 293°F, then again at 356°F. Those recipes were written for smaller batches on the older machine. The second batch held full power straight through to first crack. Cleaner curve, no rescues, 39 seconds faster.

03

What we chose, and when to drink it

We kept the second profile. First crack at 7:08, dropped 1:20 later at 406°F. That is light to light-medium, the band our importer recommends for this lot: light enough to hold the fruit, not so light it goes thin. Give it 7 to 10 days off the roast date, and let the cup cool before you judge it.

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Past issues

A numbered series.

See past issues →
Folio
Nº 01
South of the Clouds
Yunnan, China
Sold out
May 2026Sold out
Folio
Nº 02
Finca El Mango
Ituango, Colombia
Sold out
June 2026Sold out
Folio
Nº 03
Wush Wush
Guji, Ethiopia
Sold out
July 2026Sold out
Folio
Current
Nº 04
Kiambu Spike
Kiambu, Kenya
August 2026Available now
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The people

Jean-Marc & Nancy.

Folio is the two of us, roasting in San Jose and bagging it together. One coffee a month, picked because we were curious about it. Roasted in small batches, and sent out with an essay that tells you why. That's the whole story. We'd rather do one thing well each month than fill a shelf you have to sort through.

Read the full story →
Jean-Marc and Nancy at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
Folio Nº 04 · 250g $24