El Cerro is a Caribbean-inspired coffee shop in Seattle’s Capitol Hill, and a coffee shop first and foremost. Everything in the shop is plant-based, from the drinks to the baked goods. The coffee is single-origin Puerto Rican, grown in the island’s misty, high-elevation mountains, and the shop’s notes for it are roasted cacao, stone fruit and tobacco bark.
The menu runs in three parts. The clásicos are espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino, flat white, mocha, drip and a cold brew on a Puerto Rican blend. De la casa covers the Caribbean table: a pocillo of drip, a cortadito, a puya of espresso and drip together, café con leche, a sweetened cafecito and hot chocolate made with Puerto Rican cacao. The artesanales include El Ajonjolí, a Puerto Rican take on horchata latte made with sesame seeds, the Malanga Dream with house-made taro milk, a Café Malta with oat milk and coconut condensed milk, a morir soñando of orange juice and evaporated coconut milk with a shot of espresso, and a coconut water cold brew.
Pastries come from La Antillana, a Puerto Rican baker in Seattle, and from Pika Pantry: guava pastelillitos and panetela, tornillos, pan sobao, quesitos, banana bread, tembleque and tres leches among them. The room is boho-tropical, with Caribbean music playing, and it hosts events, artist collaborations and tasting sessions. Fresh beans and handmade ceramics are sold to take home.