Drinking around the world at Epcot….Have you done it? Head about it? Planning your next trip? It’s Definitely a thing. 

With or without kids (we are without), Walt Disney World can be a playground for foodies and people who like to try “all the things”.  The World Showcase in Epcot has 11 countries represented around a beautiful lagoon, and each stop highlights the people, culture, music, food and drinks from that nation! 

This is part 1 in a series, where my partner Michael and I “Sip Around the World” and take you with us! 

Please Note: La Cava Tequila Bar in Mexico is very small and always very crowded and "lively"! Apologies for the background noise- I adjusted it as best I could... It's gets better when we move on to the next stop! Thanks for understanding.

In this Episode, see what happens when we :

• Kick it off at the Rose and Crown Pub in the UK with a proper pint
• Dive into a Full on Tequila Tasting in Mexico (with guac)
• Try a surprisingly delicious beverage in China
• Venture 220 miles above Epcot for some perfect pairings in the Space 220 Lounge

Spoiler alert!!!! ...we don’t make it all the way around before a nap is needed… You’ll have to tune into to the next episode in the series to hear what happens next! (And yes- I do get some WINE in other countries... Italy. Duh.)

If you'd like to Support the Podcast, you can buy me a glass of wine (or Michael Anejo Tequila) we would be so grateful!

Purchase our favorite wine (not served at Epcot... yet) here. Use code PODLISTENER for 10% off.

Please consider Rating, Reviewing and Following Us on Apple Podcasts!

“Every episode is such a great blend of fun, education and personal experience! By the end of each listen I know more about the food and wine world than when I hit play (and am also usually hungry and thirsty for a lovely food & wine pairing)."

(Shout out to Elizloop for this great review.)

Want to leave your own review (and get a show note shout out?) 

Click Here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with Stars and select "write a review" and let us know what you loved most about this episode!

Want more tips to get the most out of your wine? Get my Wine Tips Cheat Sheet here.

Questions, suggestions and guest requests? nikki@sipwithnikki.com

Nikki: blue,

Michael: like ink.

Nikki: Is it blue? It's

Michael: like almost black,

Nikki: black hole. So you think they just put food coloring in the whiskey?

Michael: I think so.

Nikki: If you touch it, does it make your finger black? It just stuck his finger in. No, watch this.

Michael: It's not as like whiskey.

Michael: Like

Nikki: it's, it's, it's a lot more bitters. It's a

Michael: lot more bitters.

Nikki: It's throwing me off because it looks like dark Windex.

Michael: Yeah. It looks like squid ink.

Nikki: And it's throwing me off, because if I close my eyes You hear the sexy cue? If I close my eyes, it just smells and tastes like a regular Old Fashioned. The color's weird.

Michael: Sip Spotlight!

Nikki: Whether it's this episode or go back to one of your favorites, the more listeners we have, the more we can continue creating and growing and having lots of fun with you. So thank you so much for sharing. So this week is the first episode in a series, which I'm calling, uh, Sipping Around the World at Epcot.

Nikki: And I know many of you share that sentiment and are very familiar with it. Epcot and the World Showcase with the 11 countries around the, uh, the showcase lagoon there. Um, and if you've never been to Walt Disney World in Epcot, This is going to be really helpful to set the stage for your trip and give you some tips on how to approach the age old activity that everybody loves to do, which is, quote, drinking around the world at Epcot.

Nikki: So, this is part one, where you'll hear Michael and I. Sipping, not drinking, sipping. We got to pace ourselves. In the first four countries, we start in the UK pavilion, one of my favorites at the Rosencrown pub. You'll hear us move on to Mexico where Michael orders a full tequila flight and does a whole tasting.

Nikki: Uh, we get a very surprising beverage that I don't think I had ever had before in the China Pavilion. And then we take a little detour from land and go up to space. Um, this was a new stop for me, Space 220, uh, which is the new lounge and restaurant attached to the Mission Space attraction. And that was really cool and I was actually very surprised with the food options and qualities up there.

Nikki: Um, and we had to take a nap. So. So. Haha. Future episodes will pick up where we left off in the rest of the countries, but here we go with Sipping Around the World at Epcot featuring Michael, my partner in crime. Here we go. Okay. All right. First stop.

Michael: So we just walked into England.

Nikki: This is like the quietest I've seen it in here in a while.

Nikki: Oh, hi.

Michael: Okay, so we're at Rosencrantz.

Nikki: What are you gonna do?

Michael: I feel like I always come here, I have to do like a half and half or something like that.

Nikki: Snake bite.

Michael: So the half and half is a harp lager and half Guinness stout.

Michael: Yeah, this is our first drink. I swear of the day

Nikki: It is for me Amber Bombardier Amber.

Nikki: Oh, you

Michael: know what? Yeah, you know what? I'll do the Snakebite. That's the one. Yeah, and the Snakebite's a cider with Strongbow, right?

Nikki: Like the way to kick off Epcot. Ooh, she's Amber. Thank you. Thank you.

Michael: No, that's it

Nikki: I'll do it with a band. I

Michael: got my band. Got

Nikki: your Mickey band on. Have the best day, okay? Oh my gosh.

Michael: my snake bite, which I chickened out of getting going straight for the lager and the Guinness stout right away for the half and half.

Michael: I'm going to do this. I did the cider and half heart lager. So it's a little sweet.

Nikki: So you're going to drink this snake bite and then you're going to go on guardians of the galaxy for the first time. Twice. I am not joining you because that is a one and done for me. I did it once a year and a half ago. It was awesome.

Nikki: I

Michael: So tell me about, tell me about your experience. I

Nikki: almost lost my lunch and it was great but the older I get the less tolerant of motion.

Michael: Well I hope I don't get like that.

Nikki: I hope you don't either. Which is

Michael: hilarious because I get carsick. You get

Nikki: more carsick than me.

Michael: Yeah that's why I always have to drive.

Michael: No one puts baby in the back seat.

Nikki: And then we have a fast pass for Soren.

Michael: Yes.

Nikki: One of my favorites. Yeah. It's a good day. Cheers.

Michael: Yeah.

Nikki: UK.

Michael: Wow. Shaken and stirred.

Nikki: Tequila in Mexico. So, this opened, I feel

Nikki: like, in the last decade inside the pavilion in Mexico. And for the longest time, it was like a little secret. Like, people didn't know, like, oh, there's a secret tequila bar in Mexico, in Epcot. And it's so cute in here. I love it in here. The blenders are going nonstop.

Michael: Very classic Mexico City vibe. Very Rancho style.

Server: Hey my friends, how you doing? Hello, good, how are you? I'm going to be your server. Please take your time to check out the menus. I'll be

Michael: I'm probably going to do a beer. And the tequila sampler, or flight.

Nikki: They have quite the list of tequilas here. Sorry guys, you're not going to hear me, uh, schooling you or teaching you about tequila. Because I am not an expert. Blanco, Reposado,

Michael: Aguejo, this pal. So the flights are Agave, La Cava, Premium, and Supreme.

Nikki: I'm going to let you drive this tequila flight selection, sir.

Nikki: Blanco,

Michael: Reposado, Aguejo, this pal.

Nikki: So you've been playing on rides and you've been stealing selfies with creatures. I mean characters.

Michael: Yep, got to see my first creature of the day, which was Pluto.

Nikki: Pluto. Alright, are we getting a little trio of chips, queso? Yes.

Server: Yes. Si.

Nikki: We're going to do the chip trio. I

Server: would like

Nikki: a margarita, mezcal margarita.

Nikki: What would you

Server: like? Just

Nikki: regular mezcal

Server: margarita. Okay. Ahhhh.

Nikki: Yes.

Michael: Yes. There

Nikki: you go.

Michael: Yes. There

Nikki: you

Michael: go. I'm, I'm going to do the premium flight. And then, what do you have on tap?

Server: It's going to be Hercules. Hercules. It's going to be a lager.

Michael: Okay, I'll do that. Okay.

Server: So the premium flight, Hercules, three combo, and the mezcal margarita.

Server: Si. Gracias. De nada. What

Michael: did you order? I wasn't listening because I was so busy. A

Nikki: margarita with mezcal. I

Michael: was so busy concentrating on what I wanted, so I didn't hear you.

Nikki: He's gonna make a mezcal margarita. I want it too sweet. You want

Michael: your margarita to take in a flavor tone? Mine would definitely be just salt on the rim.

Michael: No chili powder, no tahini.

Server: In the order, in the menu, la blanco es centanera, la reposado es la parede suave. 11 46. What is this right here? Black and salt. Okay, thank you.

Nikki: We just got a paddle flight with five shot glasses of different tequilas.

Nikki: And then this black salt.

Michael: That's like the dessert, the mezcal, unless you want to, I feel that's gonna change the rest of the stuff. So I would, I would actually start with the blanco.

Nikki: Because mezcal is rich and smoky. Yeah,

Michael: I'm going to start with traditionally with the lime and the blanco. Ladies

Nikki: Oh, and here's my mezcal margarita. I really only drink margaritas when I'm here. Cheers. Cheers. That, um, is chili powder. Oh, that's good with the chili powder. Good call, good call. Thank you. Wow. It's

Michael: got some tostadas right in my face, with some guacamole, some salsa, and queso blanco. Got my first chip of

Nikki: Chip sounds?

Nikki: The

Michael: queso's okay. It's not as good as mine, but

Nikki: Toasting me? Oh, you're handing me your beer. It's a very light Lager, Mexican lager.

Michael: Yes.

Nikki: Refreshing on a hot day like this.

Michael: I'm going in for shot number two, which is suave, suave, pesado. I'm

Nikki: going to

Michael: try the blanco.

Michael: Ah! Ah! So the second one is sweeter.

Nikki: Y'all, I am not a big, um,

Michael: Very smooth. I didn't even need to Liquor, drinker.

Nikki: Suck

Michael: on the lime or anything. Wow. Number two so far is my favorite.

Nikki: Did you use your fruit, earth, and wood to describe what was in your tequila? Chocolate?

Michael: Not earthy. And a little bit medium wood.

Nikki: These are aged in barrels, right? Not the, I

Michael: don't think the Blanco.

Michael: The, the, I feel like the RIP Auto and the NE or Anejo goes into more months in the barrel

Nikki: And what did I just taste?

Michael: Reposado. I

Nikki: like that.

Michael: It was sweet. Wasn't it sweet? A

Nikki: little more caramely. Right. Less intense. Alcoholy.

Michael: Because Blanco spends no time, I'm wondering maybe steel. How do you feel that the barrel makes it smoother in the fact that Blanco's to me sometimes can be a little bit more alcoholic tasting, whereas Reposado starts getting a bit more subtle.

Nikki: translation of the word Anejo? You know?

Michael: Like darker color. And then you're done. Anejo is just a different color. Yes, I'm on the angle. So here it goes.

Michael: That was like drinking gasoline.

Nikki: Your eyes got a little teary.

Michael: Ooh, that one's, that

Nikki: one's,

Michael: it's good. You could definitely feel like it's more alcoholic. That's like 180 proof.

Nikki: Yeah. The fumes from this tiny little tall shot glass are, I'm just smelling it, but it's blowing my eyes a little bit.

Nikki: Now do

Michael: me, get a little bit of that.

Nikki: Orange slice.

Michael: Orange slice, that's it. I don't think when it's like that, it

Nikki: just gives you a great mouthfeel.

Michael: That's where the Moscow salt at the end

Nikki: on the orange, or just lick it on your hand. You

Michael: could actually put it on the, on the line.

Michael: There's no rules.

Nikki: All right. So far, I like the reposado. That was the most gentle and kind of pleasing.

Michael: Can I taste your margarita, by the way?

Michael: Yeah, I don't do the chili powder.

Nikki: What? Come on. No. Come on.

Michael: Well, this is very interesting. So, yeah. It has a cucumber in it. It's very tasty with the cucumber. It gives it that nice little fresh essence.

Michael: The tahini on the outside, it's not tahini. It's not sweet. It's just chili powder. It's a

Nikki: chili powder.

Michael: It's

Nikki: red in color. It's Mexican Old Bay. It is Mexican Old Bay.

Michael: And with Moscow, right? There's Moscow on this one because I can taste the smoke there.

Nikki: So this is

Michael: very earthy, smoky. Okay, so the next one is going to be

Nikki: Well, the sapu, just when I bring this glass to my nose, smells like the char on the inside of a barrel.

Michael: So the next one is Casa Nobel. Can you translate

Nikki: that?

Michael: House noble, maybe? Joven is like a young, young guy. Young, young dude. Oh, house

Michael: Fruit? None. Earth? None.

Nikki: Oh! Alcohol? All of it?

Michael: Can we add an F? Oh, no, no, no. Instead of, instead of F. That's

Nikki: a new acronym for Giga.

Michael: Fire. Fire is high. Fire is high.

Nikki: I'm going to taste the House of the Young Noble Dude right now. Oh! Don't

Michael: I? That one

Nikki: has um, it was

Michael: like a Christmas? Like a pining? Yes! Yes. Seriously? I didn't want to say anything until It was like a pine finish. Right.

Nikki: I can't believe we're both here. That's

Michael: crazy. Yeah.

Nikki: Is this Fanta Tequila known for that?

Nikki: Is, when you go to the House of the Young Noble Dude, are you going there at Christmas time? Which is why we're pursuing pine.

Michael: I don't know.

Nikki: Y'all, you're not learning anything about tequila from us. I'm sorry.

Michael: Casa Nobel Holden. Tequila.

Nikki: It's almost

Michael: like a family style city. People

Nikki: are making friends. Right. With their next door table. That's fun to do. I guess like wine brings people together. Tequila brings people together.

Michael: So this is Mezcal. Contraluz. Eleven. Even for just smelling this. It smells sweet. So, not fruity, but sweet.

Nikki: Not smoky?

Nikki: It

Michael: does have smoke in it, but it smells sweet. Oh,

Nikki: it does. It smells like, um, Almost like syrup. Or like a chili temporal. Oh my gosh. Ooh, that one is riding the esophagus all

Michael: the way down. Yes. Wow. Wow, it's, it is very sweet. And very whiskey like. It

Nikki: is whiskey like. Very good.

Michael: So take a little bit more then.

Nikki: sip it first?

Michael: Yes.

Nikki: Can you describe my face for a moment right now? Like

Michael: you just, just like a bit of a lemon or a lime, just puckering out. Like my

Nikki: right eye will not open. My right eye is sealed shut.

Michael: So look, it says the results of an inviting mezcal. It's refined smoky notes brought on by cooked agave bounce with cherry woods floral notes.

Nikki: It definitely is the most wispy like. I like

Michael: them all a little bit. By far the Blanco to me was. It's the least favorite and

Nikki: you had to chase it with your Hercules

Michael: beer. Well, when I actually ordered the beer, we still had a lot more tequila. So now I'm kind of have to catch up with

Nikki: the beer part. It's going to be

Michael: okay.

Michael: It's a really hard, uh, problem to have a bad problem to have.

Nikki: We're not driving flying on the Skyliner back to our correct.

Nikki: me mama. I didn't hate it though. I felt right in the moment. Hashtag

Michael: felt right.

Nikki: Okay.

Michael: Mama.

Nikki: You have food on your shirt.

Michael: No, now I've got to clean salsa off my.

Nikki: salsa on your shirt from Mexico and you're trying to clean it off your shirt with Chinese beer. So here we are in China and this is a jasmine.

Michael: Lager.

Nikki: Lager draft beer. Which is

Michael: very interesting. It's actually very refreshing but it's almost like if you're drinking, if you were

Nikki: drinking tea.

Nikki: Oh,

Michael: it's

Nikki: a herbal beer. So

Michael: very earthy. Capital E.

Nikki: That's nice.

Michael: Also

Nikki: floral.

Nikki: wheels are falling off on stop three.

Michael: This

Nikki: would have been stop four, but we had to bypass Norway because

Michael: They ran out of beer.

Nikki: Norway was out of beer.

Michael: And I didn't want a frozen Slurpee for 45 in a souvenir cup.

Nikki: Pre packaged white wine in a plastic cup, Moscato. Chardonnay

Michael: or Samyang Long.

Nikki: I mean, if they were like pouring it out of a bottle, sure, but it's like in a pre packaged plastic. So, we bypassed Norway and jumped to China, and this beer is delicious.

Michael: Yes, it's very good.

Nikki: Cheers.

Michael: It's very delicious. Thank you very much. Um, China was great.

Nikki: Peace out, China.

Michael: PeopleTV even better.

Nikki: PeopleTV!

Michael: And now we're drinking outside the world.

Michael: Drink wheel.

Nikki: And you let the wheel decide that you're getting a black hole fashion.

Nikki: How are we doing today?

Michael: Good. Thank

Nikki: you.

Michael: So I spun the wheel and I got a black hole for that. A

Nikki: fashion. So it's

Michael: Knob Creek, Demara, whiskey barrel aged

Nikki: bitters. So they have snacks up here. We're going to do the lounge menu. Deviled eggs, shrimp tacos, wings with honey and dill, short rib sliders.

Michael: I think with the whiskey I should do, like, sliders.

Nikki: Yum!

Michael: Okay.

Nikki: I'll do the, um, Sierra Nevada hazy, and the deviled eggs. Astronauts floating by the windows of our space station. It's pretty cool. So you just went on Mission Space The Ride for the first time.

Nikki: I also let you experience that one solo for the same reason, that I did not go on Guardians of the Galaxy. And how was it?

Michael: I was so scared, not because of the ride. Scared because

Nikki: You didn't want to feel sick?

Michael: I was in an enclosed space after a guacamole and queso, fueled tequila tasting with beer. So it was crazy because They said, vomit bags are located on the instrument panel.

Michael: And I was like, okay, maybe I should locate those first. Just in case,

Nikki: because it's

Michael: like a little closet with three other people.

Michael: and I found the bag and I was like, okay, it's almost like the airplane bark bags. And I was like, okay, at least I know where it is.

Michael: Just in case. I was like, either that or I'm going to have to use my shirt, you know? So, it was fine. It was the medium. I'm not going to lie. I didn't go on the, the, the full thing. One time. And then I'm done going to the lounge. So, yeah, it was, it was fine. It was, I didn't get nauseous at all.

Nikki: Good. I'm jealous.

Nikki: We were able to sneak in this reservation at last minute today, which is cool because of what happened last night.

Nikki: Which is about

Nikki: live stream on our phone.

Michael: Yeah, sure enough way

Nikki: in the sky to look.

Michael: It came up above the tree line and it was amazing because it's the first live rocket launch I've ever seen.

Nikki: And this was a manned rocket with,

Michael: right? They were sending, they were sending, I think, eight, eight, seven or eight astronauts to space. Are they

Nikki: here? Did we, did I see them here at this time? Space two 20 upstairs Space Station, where we are. I I have not seen them yet. They're probably still debriefing, but, uh, no, that was so cool.

Nikki: That was so cool to watch that last night. I wasn't sure if it, the clouds were gonna let us see it, but we had a,

Michael: so that was another drive for me to get on mission space. Today

Nikki: it's going with a theme, but

Michael: a lot, a lot less. 'cause you're on the green, on the green ride.

Nikki: I still won't even, no, no. What?

Michael: So my drink is, uh.

Michael: It throws you off because the color of it is like blue like ink.

Nikki: Is it blue? No, it's it's

Michael: like almost black

Nikki: black hole So you think they just put food coloring in the whiskey?

Nikki: If you touch it, does it make your finger black? He just stuck his finger in it. No, want to taste

Michael: it?

Nikki: I will I will

Michael: It's not as like whiskey like

Nikki: it's it's it's a lot more bitter color.

Michael: It's a lot more bitter than

Nikki: it's throwing me off because it looks like It's dark window

Michael: Yeah, it looks like squid ink.

Nikki: You're the sexy cube. If I close my eyes, it just smells and tastes like a regular Old Fashioned. The color's

Michael: weird. Sip Spotlight!

Nikki: That's your favorite part, isn't it? Sip Spotlight! You should have been singing it in every country so far.

Michael: Yeah. In the language.

Nikki: I know. Oh! Alright, we gotta do some homework for tomorrow.

Michael: It's

Nikki: your favorite part, isn't it?

Nikki: This is cool. It's cool up here.

Michael: Yeah. I think the good thing about it is there's a lot of little places where they're nice and cool.

Nikki: Yeah. so much. Ooh, that's fun. Are you done with it? Yeah. Enjoy. That's fun. Ooh, french fries. I love a french fry.

Michael: So what I'm looking at now is some deviled eggs with some big bacon. Big

Nikki: maple bacon.

Michael: And some oil. Bacon is nice and like, very thick, very savory, sweet, it's perfect.

Nikki: That's a yummy bite. Pair with my beer.

Nikki: Cheers. Cheers.

Michael: It's a little brioche, a little small tiny bun, but it's

Nikki: When you say tiny bun, I didn't really know what to expect from the food up here.

Michael: In space?

Nikki: Oh my, can you tell the wheels were coming off just a little bit? I think what I noticed when I listened back to these things is when I'm starting to feel a little happy, um, I sing. And so hopefully that wasn't too painful for you. We really had fun doing that and I can't wait for you to tune in next week as we pick up where we left off, sipping around the world.

Nikki: If you are enjoying these episodes, it would mean so much for you to give us a rating, um, if you click on the show, Sip with Nikki, so not a particular episode, but in your podcast menus where you can see all your different shows, um, at the very bottom, if you scroll down, of the Tip of Nikki's show, there should be a spot for you to leave a rating.

Nikki: So as always, thanks so much for tuning in and sip well.

Music: Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, b last, bom, eh, do, do, do, bom, bom, bom and bom, bomb.......