Well, you still can't take your hover car skyward for your commutes to work, but now even the grimiest train ride or most impossible gridlock can take you to ~cloud nine~. That is, so long as you stop by and grab one of Starbucks' new Cloud Macchiatos, two new drinks with a unique foam topping that are making a permanent residence on Starbucks' menu as of Tuesday, March 5. Get your taste buds and your Instagram filters ready, y'all, because none of us have tasted anything like these yet.
First and foremost, you're probably wondering what this whole "cloud" bit is about. The new drink gets its name from its distinctive new topping, made with cold milk foam, that has a distinct "cloud" texture. Bustle had the opportunity to try the drink before it hit the permanent menu, and can confirm that the topping is, weirdly, the way you'd imagine a cloud tasting — it has a mild sweetness and an almost meringue-like texture, light and smooth with a nice melt-in-your-mouth quality.
Perhaps the most enticing thing about this new foam, though? It takes much, much longer to dissolve into your drink than a typical whipped topping or even foams of the recent past. Meaning, if you forget about your drink for a hot second while you're powering through your Excel sheets in the morning crunch, you won't have foam FOMO (FOAMO, if you will).
The new flavors include a Caramel Cloud Macchiato and Iced Cinnamon Cloud Macchiato, both of which are available iced and hot. The distinctive cloud foam topping is finished with Starbucks' signature caramel drizzle cross-hatch, giving the foam a jolt of sweetness when it hits your tongue. The drinks are both topped with espresso shots for that extra zinggg of a morning wakeup.
And, if the fact that they are delicious isn't enough to get you on board, then maybe the fact that this drink appears to be Ariana Grande-approved will — the megastar tweeted a mysterious message related to it the day before its release.
The drinks aren't the only thing worth getting hyped for on the Starbucks lineup; the chain is also introducing a sunny and delicious Lemon Cake Pop, which is "lemon flavored cake dipped in a yellow chocolatey coating, covered in sweet and sour topping," per Starbucks. As someone who quite recently took one of these to the face, I can confirm that it pairs deliciously with both of the new cloud drinks.
This season at Starbucks, you'll also be able to order all things matcha, in the form of Hot Matcha Green Tea Latte, Iced Matcha Green Tea Latte, and Matcha Green Tea Creme Frappuccino, per Starbucks. The Cold Brew with Cascara Cold Foam will also be making a comeback after its introduction to the spring menu last year, so your options for caffeinating are as wide as they are delicious. Just make sure to stop in for a Cloud Macchiato — it may not be spring just yet, but this drink has such a springtime vibe that one sip will take you straight there.
