We’ve stopped by the Joy of Tea kiosk in Epcot’s China Pavilion several times…because it’s awesome.
So you may know by now that it’s packed with much more than tea, despite the name. I mean, sure, you can absolutely grab an iced or hot tea depending on the weather or just your personal preference. But it’s also got a decent snack selection for such a small place (I love the Strawberry Red Bean Ice Cream), and an “appetizer sampler” of sorts with their Lucky Combo, which allows you to try all three hot snacks (BBQ Pork Buns, Curry Chicken Pockets, and Egg Rolls) along with a soft drink and some ice cream.
You’d think that would about cover it! But you’d be wrong ;). Because there is a whole slew of specialty drinks here including some adult beverages, which is what we’re trying out today.
Joy of Tea
You’ll spot the choices under “Alcoholic Beverages” (natch), and they include the Mango Gingerita, Canto Loopy, Peach Snap!, and Green Tea Plum Slush, in addition to beer and wine. (Oh, and don’t forget the Tipsy Ducks in Love.)
Joy of Tea menu
I went with the Green Tea Plum Slush with plum wine, since I know it’s a guest favorite at the park. I really enjoyed the Strawberry Oolong Tea Slush here many moons ago, so I had high hopes for this one. I mean, plum wine? Sure — sign me up! I love that stuff.
Unfortunately, those hopes were
dashed pretty much from the get-go. While I can’t say exactly what I was expecting, it definitely wasn’t the orange concoction that was handed to me.
Green Tea Plum Slush
Okay, true — this is probably more on par with the actual ingredients than maybe an artificial green for the green tea or purple for the plum wine. Still, it was just different from the image in my head. I guess I was thinking of a greenish iced tea looking color? Anyway, I could easily overlook the orange if the taste had resembled more of what I was anticipating.
Green Tea Plum Slush
I LOVE plum wine, and I also enjoy green tea. Did I taste the green tea? Nope. And that plum wine? Not so much. What I walked away with was something super strong and suuuuper sweet — but not, unfortunately, in a good way. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d gotten the wrong drink! This was an uber-concentrated, very syrupy slush. Oddly, it had an almost coconutty aftertaste; but where that came from, I have no idea.
I know this slush has a lot of fans, so maybe it’s possible I just ended up with an unbalanced mix. At any rate, though, I suppose it’s not surprising at this point that I’m giving this one a thumbs down.
For now, I’m sticking with the Strawberry Oolong Slush for my go-to until I get brave enough to try a different specialty drink. I’m taking recommendations for the next one, so if you have any favorites from the Joy of Tea, please chime in!
Do you have a favorite beverage from the Joy of Tea kiosk? Please let us know with a comment!
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Mango Gingerita allll the way! It’s delicious!
Seems like a rare miss from our friends at Epcot. Too bad. Maybe someone with some “juice” will read AJ’S review and fix it. After all when she say’ s too sweet – it’s too sweet.
It doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I’d try the strawberry slushie if it was hot weather.
As a big plum wine myself, this was the one I’d have chosen. I really hope that this is a bad blip on their part and can fix it. I tend to go for a lesser sweet that AJ – I think that if it is too sweet for her, I’m not even going to bother.
The other offerings here are decent to pretty good, but I agree with you on the Plum Wine slush. While I got a hint of the green tea it swiftly vanished under an overpowering, suffocating sweetness. It seemed like they unnecessarily enhanced the sweetness of the plum wine and with syrup.
My favorite is Tipsy Ducks in Love!! Definitely unique and not for everyone. I can’t wait to go back and get it again! I wish I could make it at home but it just doesn’t come out as good.
I LOVE the mango green tea slush from the non alcoholic menu, it is something that I have to get every time I go without fail!!
I love the non-alcoholic Mango green tea slushie !
I wonder if you were served the wrong drink. It looks like you drank the Mango Green Tea Slushie.
Rare for this venue to mess up a drink…stick to to Tipsy Ducks, or Mango Gingerita, or Cantoloopy as they are some of the best drinks in EPCOT. They also are one of the few locations that are not shy with the pours.
The Peach Snap is my favorite, I’m a big fan of peach tea. My sister usually goes for the Cantoloopy, which is also quite good.
I’m not a drinker, but I will make an exception for the Canto Loopy. Maybe my new favorite Disney Drink