Warm welcome at Water & the Elephant

It might take some searching to find, tucked away in Printers Way just off the CNB roundabout in the Cayman Technology Centre, but once you’ve located this lovely bright and airy coffee shop, you’ll be pleased you did. Water & the Elephant opened its doors in 2018 and offers its customers a lovely space in which to hobnob with friends, catch up on some work or simply enjoy their pastries and other goodies. It’s the perfect location for those working in Cayman Technology Centre but you should really take a trip to visit even if you are located a bit further afield. The only issue is the parking, which is rather sparce in its availability.

A coffee shop in the truest sense of the word, Water & the Elephant serve really great coffee called Partners Coffee, which comes from a Brooklyn-based specialty coffee roaster which they say has an unwavering commitment to sourcing and roasting quality coffee. The results are definitely noticeable in the cup, which is lovely and full bodied without being overtly overpowering. It’s definitely worth paying the extra 25c or so for their lattes (which are CI$4.75.) Teas are another excellent choice with a good variety from Cayman Tea Time set to quench diners’ thirst. Choose from Skinny Lemongrass, A Royal Affair (English Breakfast) or Go Green to name but a few.

Their all-day breakfasts include a good assortment of filled croissants, granola and of course the ubiquitous avo toast (is a café even a café without it?), as well as a good old-fashioned BLT, while salads, paninis, a superfood bowl (spinach, quinoa, broccoli, edamame, avocado, radish, pomegranate and pepitas/pumpkin seeds) and even a truffled mushroom grilled cheese are available from 11am.

While the above-mentioned dishes do sound delicious, their pastries are worth a special mention, all made from scratch and all beckoning diners to choose them out of their pastry case home. Chocolate croissants, vegan chocolate cake, carrot cake, lemon bundt cake and more all sit enticingly waiting to be devoured. And if you visit after 10am on a Saturday you can behold a pretty wonderful sight: rows and rows of donuts made by hand in small batches – what a treat! Choose from salted caramel ganache, carrot cake, blueberry cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake, matcha white chocolate, key lime and more flavours. Order 12 donuts 48 hours ahead for CI$40 (up to two flavours per dozen) and that’s your weekend sorted!