I want to start off this week with an apology. I told you all I was going to be reviewing the Soylent Green from The Sink this week. However, I went there the day before this column was due (procrastinating is my lifestyle) and they were out of soy milk, so I made a last minute change to review this week’s Sink-nature drink — Cloud Nine.
The name, Cloud Nine, holds familiarity from both the common idiom and the Disney Channel original movie. Along with this cinematic masterpiece, there are a plethora of songs that bear the title of this signature drink. It seems like everyone is trying to chase that Cloud Nine feeling in one way or another.
When researching the idiom, I found that it comes from classifying the 10 types of clouds, in which, the ninth is a cumulonimbus which “rises to 10 [kilometers], the highest a cloud can be.” Is that why we use this phrase so much? Are we always thinking about being the best, reaching the highest possible limit, while watching our lives pass us by and missing the moments that give us true happiness rather than the faux ‘bliss’ we feel once we are alone at the top?
Insert funny Cloud Nine pun here to lighten the mood. Anyway, getting into the review, I waited a respectable 11 minutes and 36 seconds for my drink today. I want to take a moment to shout out the Tuesday afternoon Sink baristas because they are always killing it with wait times and getting my two drinks right every time.
As Cloud Nine has a base of Chamomile Tea, it only comes hot, so I got one with whole milk and the other with my mortal enemy — oat milk. While it’s understandable that they were out of soy milk, being out of almond as well seems like a personal attack against me, so they lose points for that this week.
The key to this drink is patience, which I often lack because upon first sip I was underwhelmed by the lack of flavor. However, after letting it steep for a few minutes, you might as well hand me a snowboard and call me Dove Cameron, because I felt like I could do a Cloud Nine (to the parents reading this, that was in reference to the Disney movie, definitely worth the watch).
The delicate floral of the Chamomile and the lavender’s slight citrus taste, mixed with the familiar sweetness of the honey and the softness of the whole milk made for the perfect combination of spring and winter that I never knew I needed. This drink is an anomaly because it is both soft and strong with a blend of sweet and bitter flavors. As an indecisive person, this drink was a magnificent middle ground. Plus, its scent would make for a perfect candle.
Even the oat milk couldn’t screw it up. While I got some of that Quaker flavor, the stars of this drink were still able to shine through.
The Cloud Nine is close to perfection, good for anyone looking for a bittersweet drink and it works for any time of year. Tea is great for the girlies with tummy troubles and if all that’s left at the Sink is oat milk, this drink is still not half bad.
Always Brewing the Best Reviews,
Dylan Fee
