Is the sweet new Ariana Grande-approved beverage all it's cracked up to be?
It's the age-old question: Should you use your free-drink Starbucks reward on a tried-and-true favorite, or be daring and try something new? (Or maybe I'm the only person who gets philosophical about the Starbucks rewards program.)
Well today I decided to cash in my hard-earned stars to try the new drink generating a lot of talk: the cloud macchiato!
The drink got its first dose of mainstream buzz last week when Starbucks and Ariana Grande posted similar cloud-related tweets. My interest? PEAKED. I was dying to know what the coffee chain and popstar were cooking up. Whatever it was, I knew I'd be all over it like whipped cream on a frappuccino.
Fast forward to the next day, and the cloud macchiato made its public debut. The drink is basically espresso with a douse of cold foam and sweet drizzle on top. The beverage can indeed be made hot, but is also an example of the company doubling down on the popularity of its iced drinks. It comes in two varieties: caramel and cinnamon. The caramel version is a permanent addition to the menu, while the cinnamon one is only here for a limited time.
Something intriguing is that the foam contains egg whites, which sounds gross but I guess isn't considering all the sweet stuff (see: baked goods) containing eggs. Still, the "Contains egg whites" warning prompted images in my head of scrambled eggs sitting on top of coffee, which made no sense and also wouldn't surprise me if it became a hit hipster drink several years down the road.
ANYWAY, I've been dying to try it so I went to go snag it today. I went for the cinnamon variety because I don't really like caramel which pains me every day because I know I'm probably missing out on a lot of yummy drinks and treats by not liking caramel but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles. (But not any cookie with caramel!) And I wanted to try the limited-time one.
Right off the bat I was pleasantly surprised by its coloring. The pictures I had seen of the drink made it seem like it would be straight espresso on the bottom with a chunk of foam sitting on top, which left me wondering about the most satisfying way to drink it. (If you sip from the top, you get mouthfuls of foam, which seemed like a not very fun, rabies-type situation. If you sip with a straw, you're slurping up straight espresso. What's a girl to do?)
But when I got my drink, it was about 70-75% liquid of a nice tan color that I usually like my lattes to be, with about 25-30% fluffy white foam dressed up with powdery cinnamon.
I know there's been some disappointment about how much the foam dissipates. While I do understand the outrage over paying $5 for a drink that quickly ends up being half air, my foam was hearty enough to maintain a layer up top, and the foam that didn't disappear sunk into the espresso even further than before to create a delicious latte-like texture.
It has a light lemon-y taste that became more prominent as I drank, but it definitely wasn't unpleasant. The sweet spice of the cinnamon also conjures up comparisons to a chai. So if you like really sweet chai or the citrusy juniper latte, you'd probably like the cinnamon cloud macchiato.
This drink is super light, sweet and foamy, so if you're a caffeine die-hard who only drinks ~real~ coffee and the thought of a frappuccino makes you gag, you probably won't dig this.
And I probably wouldn't order it again. For the price, I'd rather get one of my go-tos (I'm a skinny vanilla latte betch through and through). I didn't pay attention to how much my venti cost because I redeemed my reward for it, but my BFF told me she got a tall and it was $4.97, which is awfully expensive. I'd rather pay that same price for a drink I KNOW I love - and one that's less gimmicky.
For these reasons, I can't see myself putting the cloud macchiato into my regular rotation of Starbucks orders, but it was definitely delicious, and probably the closest I'll ever feel to being Ariana Grande. For now, I'll just listen to "7 Rings" on my way to Starbucks to pick up my regular skinny vanilla latte... and maybe a scone too. I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.
Oh, while Starbucks is on my mind (which is a LOT actually so I don't know what I'm talking about), I am obsessed with these new mermaid cups. They're only $3, and I love how they're clear and reminiscent of the regular Starbucks cups (except better for the environment). I got one last week and I also scored one today for my mom (pictured hanging out with my cinnamon cloud macchiato). Cute!
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