Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival: One Day Challenge

Friends, I have two choices before me. I could weep, for I only enjoyed one day of Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival 2025. On the other hand, I could rejoice, for I enjoyed one day at Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival 2025!

FETE THE FESTIVAL

Given that we planned this trip like 6 weeks in advance, I choose to rejoice that it happened at all. We spent most of our time on Universal property, so hooray for small miracles!

That being said, cramming as much of the festival into a single day is no small order. I had to be very choosy with my selections. In addition to limited stomach space, I was there on a busy holiday weekend, and the lines were loooooong.

Yet I forged ahead, gathering food and drinks in between stage shows and gift shops and unpopular boat rides. Did I discover any fun new snacks and cocktails despite all this adversity? Let’s find out!

FLAVORS FROM FIRE

Let’s start off, as I did, with a divisive cocktail! Because that’s how we do it at 11am in Epcot. I launched my Food & Wine Festival excursion with the (in)famous Swine Brine: Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, apple-cinnamon cider, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard.

Okay, um, I kind of loved this?! I dug the show of how they poured the cocktail over the piggy wing when serving, although the piggy wing itself was a bit dry and pedestrian. The cocktail, though, managed the very difficult (IMHO) task of harmonizing with the whiskey. The cider and lemon juice cut the alcohol without masking it. It almost reminded me of a sour beer in its flavor profile, and this being my favorite type of beer I was into it. Even the hint of Dijon mustard worked for me.

It’s definitely a unique taste, and I don’t doubt that it’s a big miss for many. For me, it’s a new must-do!

GERMANY

The Bratwurst on a Pretzel Roll with Mustard has been around for years and is completely uninspired. You could slap any ol’ breakfast sausage in a store bought pretzel roll and have a comparable experience. And yet the siren call of breakfast sausage in a pretzel roll never fails to reach me. I’m not always a mustard person, but it works well to elevate the otherwise run of the mill flavors. It’s arguably worth neither your money nor your time, except that I find it delicious.

Full disclosure: when Pat asked me to pick out a beer from Germany, I went with the von Trapp Brewing Oktoberfest Märzen-style Lager exclusively for the Sound of Music vibes. Turns out the von Trapp Family Brewers know what they’re doing! Their Oktoberfest lager had a rich, full flavor with no hoppy bitterness. It’s definitely a Beer Flavored Beer, but the non-IPA drinking crowd (me!) will enjoy it.

SPAIN

Pat picked up a Summer in Spain: Frozen Simply Lemonade with Yellow Chartreuse Liqueur and Green Chartreuse Liqueur. Between this and the chartreuse-riddled drink from the Dead Coconut Club, I think I can safely say that I don’t care for chartreuse. No, gracias.

FLAVORS OF AMERICA

I had Playalinda Brewing Co. Pumpkin Cheesecake Blonde Stout on my short list from the get-go. I love pumpkin and cheesecake! I’m not sure this beer totally nails the flavors, but the spice hints and slight sweetness were there and that’s good enough for me. It was also quite light for a stout.

Once again I selected on Pat’s behalf some Austrian American action with the von Trapp Brewing Natür Helles Lager. I preferred the Oktoberfest from Germany with its more robust taste, but the Helles lager is another strong beer-flavored beer without too much hoppiness.

BRAZIL

Erika tells me she has a bag of these in her freezer pretty much all the time. It’s a terrible value proposition, but when my friends grabbed some Pão de Queijo: Brazilian cheese bread I couldn’t resist my cut. The soft, chewy, cheesy roll isn’t particularly sophisticated, but it’s always a good time. Image is from 2022 but I promise they look the same.

SHIMMERING SIPS (& A FESTIVAL PRIZE)

While I’ve picked up the mimosa flights before, Pat and I elected to go full-size here. I heeded the siren song of POG juice and went with the Tropical Mimosa: Sparkling wine and Minute Maid Passion Fruit Orange Guava Juice. Pat grabbed the Blood Orange Mimosa: Sparkling wine and blood orange juice – and it was the superior of the two. The POG juice was good but a tad too sweet. The acidic edge on the blood orange gave it the win.

One of our friends completed Emile’s Fromage Montage, wherein you eat a number of cheese items over the course of the festival; eat enough and you get a prize. That prize, obtained from Shimmering Sips, is what I believe amounts to a Key Lime Cheesecake Dole Whip. He let me try a spoonful, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The sour lime and sweet cheesecake swirl playing off each other beautifully. Plus you get a plastic souvenir cup!

HAWAII

We wrapped up our day with a stop at the always-reliable Hawaii booth, where for the first time I tried the fan-favorite Slow-roasted Pork Slider with sweet-and-sour chutney featuring DOLE Pineapple and spicy mayonnaise. This was tasty, but didn’t really set me on fire. It’s more or less what it says on the tin.

The Hawaiian Rice Bowl (Spam, eggs, eel sauce, spicy mayonnaise, and furikake), on the other hand, was more than the sum of its parts. And I loved all the parts: the Spam was nicely seared, the eggs were soft, the sauces were maybe a touch overdone but complementary – yes, would eat again.

Our friends also got a Pineapple Cheesecake with passion fruit curd and macadamia nuts. I should’ve taken a picture as it was shaped like a pineapple, but it wasn’t my food, so… Ultimately, however, I was indeed invited to try it, and while I found it to be a bit whippy and sweet it was still a pleasant tangy cheesecake. The pineapple flavor was more of a whisper to my palate, but I wouldn’t steer you away from buying one.

IS ONE DAY AT EPCOT’S FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL ENOUGH?

NO! Obviously not. Especially on a holiday weekend and a scorcher of a day in the sun. Nevertheless I think we can all agree that one day at Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival is a million times better than no days there, and that is the way and the truth and the light. I hope that we are all so lucky as to have a day at Disney dropped into our laps now and again. I wonder what sort will happen next and what I’ll eat there?

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