The 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is here and we are about to be reunited with one of our FAVORITE festival snacks…but will it hold up this year, or be a big disappointment?

There’s a lot to check out at the Food & Wine Festival this year — from the fun festival merchandise to the Eat to the Beat concert series. But the real star of the Festival (as its name indicates) is the food and the wine. We’re visiting EVERY SINGLE food booth to make sure we can find the BEST things for you to try. So now, let’s head to the Germany booth to see what you should (or should NOT) try.

Menu

Over at the Germany booth, you’ll find nothing but returning items when it comes to the eats — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! On the menu are the Schinkennudeln (which has been a big hit with us in the past), the Bratwurst, and Apple Strudel. Plus, there are a variety of drinks here, including a NEW alcohol-removed option.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s dive into the food and drinks!

Eats

How were we NOT going to get the Schinkennudeln?! We just HAD to. This dish is made with Pasta Gratin with Ham, Onions, and Cheese, and is priced at $5. It’s basically a German version of macaroni and cheese. And if you know anything about us here at Disney Food Blog, it’s that we LOVE our cheese! This is typically a big winner for us, AND it’s part of Emile’s Fromage Montage, aka the Cheese Crawl. But will it hold up this year?

Well…sort of. There really wasn’t anything WRONG with the dish this year, but it didn’t impress us as much as before. If you like baked mac ‘n’ cheese, we do think you’ll love this one — that could make it an easy pick for little ones. But, unfortunately, the portion size was quite a bit smaller than what we have seen in the past, and it was a little greasy.

Compare the photo above to the portion size from last year (pictured below) and you can really tell the difference!

On the plus side, it held together nicely this year. But the flavors weren’t really all that powerful. The ham was noticeable when you got a piece of it in your bite, but you can see just how much less ham there appears to be this year compared to last year. We also didn’t get a lot of the onion here (except for a touch of flavor that it added to the overall dish). So, it’s not bad per se, just not as good as we would have hoped.

Next, we have the Bratwurst on a Pretzel Roll with Mustard for $6. This is also returning this year. In the past, we’ve found this to be a good, solid bratwurst. It has typically been one of those things that is reliable, but not anything to really write home about. Plus, last year the pretzel bun was unfortunately a little stale. So how did it taste in 2023?

Well, once again we really enjoyed it but it wasn’t perfect. Essentially, it was like a pretzel hot dog. There was a nice intensity from the mustard sauce that kicked things up a notch in terms of flavor. The portion size was really small though, and the bratwurst tasted more like a breakfast sausage link. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it wasn’t how you’d really expect a bratwurst to be.

Also returning this year is the Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce for $4.50. This has been a big favorite of ours in the past as it was not overly sweet and has had a delightfully flaky pastry. In 2023, it impressed us once again.

It was essentially like an apple pie but still captured that flaky pastry deliciousness. And don’t even get us started on that vanilla sauce — it was INCREDIBLE. It might confuse your taste buds a bit because you almost want it to be like yogurt given its thick look, but it’s soooo much smoother and sweeter than that. The apple filling, coupled with the flaky pastry and the vanilla sauce make this an awesome pick for kiddos and adults alike.

Now that we’ve tried the food, let’s talk about drinks!

Drinks

In terms of drinks on this menu, we got the new beverage listed for this year, the Dr. Lo Alcohol-Removed Riesling for $6.50. Note that this is an alcohol-removed drink. We actually REALLY enjoyed this one! It might not be the first drink you’d gravitate to but we think it would really surprise you.

It was sweet and smooth with a touch of sourness. Basically, if you picture a green grape in liquid form — with that balance of sweet and sour that plays on your tongue — that’s what this drink tasted like, in the best way possible. Our reporter shared that this was actually one of their FAVORITE drinks at the entire Festival!

The other wine here is the Selbach-Oster Riesling, which is returning this year. That is priced at $6.50.

This year we also picked up the Beer Flight for $10. This comes with 3 drinks — the Gaffel Kölsch (priced on its own at 6 oz. $5.50 / 12 oz. $9.50), Weihenstephaner Festbier (priced on its own at 6 oz. $5.50 / 12 oz. $9.50), and Schöfferhofer Prickly Pear Hefeweizen (priced on its own at 6 oz. $5.50 / 12 oz. $9.50).

The Gaffel Kölsch was hoppy, but not nearly as strong as the Festbier. It had a little bit more flavor but we’d probably describe it as the most mid-grade of the 3 beers in this flight.

The Weihenstephaner Festbier is what we’d call tiny but MIGHTY! This had an extremely STRONG hoppy taste to it, so if that’s not something you like, be aware.

Finally, there was the Schöfferhofer Prickly Pear Hefeweizen. This was actually the most unique of the three because it tasted almost like a pear soda.

The pear flavor isn’t overly strong though. It was just present enough.

OVERALL

Overall, this booth had some good moments and some more so-so moments. The apple strudel was an absolute WIN and we’d happily get that Dr. Lo Alcohol-Removed Riesling again. The beer flight had some interesting options in there, but nothing really stood out as particularly spectacular. The bratwurst was alright but tasted more like breakfast sausage, and the Schinkennudeln was good but not nearly as large or flavorful as what we’ve had in the past.

Who’s ready for GERMANY?

We got the Schinkennudeln (part of Emile’s Fromage Montage ), Bratwurst on a Pretzel Roll, and Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce to eat To drink, we got the non-alcoholic wine called Dr. Lo Alcohol-Removed Riesling as well as the beer flight! pic.twitter.com/hR4Ork8pPD

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) July 27, 2023

That’s one booth down, and MANY more to go. Stay tuned for more reviews!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival!

Want to plan the BEST trip to the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’re working to keep you updated on ALL the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

• Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages
• Check out ALL of the 2023 Food & Wine Booth Menus
• See what eats you’ll need to try to get a PRIZE at the Festival!

And don’t forget to pick up our 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book!

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What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!

The post The New Drink That Might SURPRISE You at EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival first appeared on the disney food blog.