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Matt and Friends Drink the Universe
Welcome to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe, the podcast where comedy and great drinks collide! Join host Matt and a rotating crew of friends as they sample unique beers, wines, cocktails, and spirits, diving into the stories, history, and science behind each sip.
Packed with laughs, hilarious anecdotes, fun trivia, and drinking games, our show offers a laid-back yet enlightening experience for anyone who enjoys a good drink with great company. Tune in for “Stellar Sips” and “Cosmic Chugs” as we explore new flavors and share memorable stories along the way.
Whether you're a casual drinker or a cocktail connoisseur, sit back, relax, and let’s drink our way through the universe—where anything is possible! Cheers!
Matt and Friends Drink the Universe
Captain's Log: Universal Studios Epic Universe
Join Matt and Jon from Poppin's Travel on an EPIC adventure! What happens when two theme park enthusiasts are granted VIP access to Universal Orlando's Epic Universe before its grand opening? A 19-mile walking marathon, 25+ attractions, and an evening of complimentary food and signature cocktails that transformed us into living testimonials for the park's perfectly chosen name.
Our adventure began with a whirlwind tour through Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, conquering classics like ET's Adventure and modern marvels like Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. By afternoon, we'd ridden 15 major attractions and were preparing ourselves for the evening's exclusive preview of Epic Universe.
Stepping into Epic Universe feels like entering multiple worlds at once. The attention to detail is staggering—in the 1920s Paris area, buildings stand at true-to-life scale with no forced perspective tricks. At the Blue Dragon restaurant, bartenders crafted smoky, theatrical cocktails that delighted our senses. The Dark Universe section delivered both thrills on Monsters Unchained and theatrical drinking experiences at the Burning Blade Tavern, where servers stayed perfectly in character while serving "eyeball" garnished cocktails.
Super Nintendo World brings tears to the eyes of lifelong games. The Isle of Berk captured How to Train Your Dragon's magic through both its stunning environmental design and family-friendly coasters that deliver excitement without excessive intensity.
As fireworks and drones lit up the night sky, we reflected on what makes Epic Universe special. It's not just the rides or the perfectly themed areas—it's how seamlessly everything works together to create genuine moments of awe. This isn't just Universal's newest park; it's their masterpiece.
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Captain's Log, may 2025. This is Matt and I just completed a truly epic adventure. I was invited to the grand opening celebration for Epic Universe, the new park at the Universal Orlando Resort. I was able to meet up with and share this adventure with my dear and longtime friend, john, who is also from our sponsor, the Poppins Travel Company. John and I traveled our way through both the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure parks before attending the grand opening celebration for Epic Universe at night. Together, we walked a total of 19 miles and rode well over 20 major attractions in one day. This episode is a compilation of live recordings taken throughout the day. I hope you enjoy listening to our epic adventure.
Matt:Hey everyone, this is Matt from Matt and Friends Drink the Universe. I'm here at Universal Studios, orlando with John from Poppins Travel Hello there, and we have been invited to an exclusive opening event for Epic Universe this evening. Looking forward to that Fireworks drone show. Blue carpet apparently Drinks Drinks. That is why I'm here. We're going to see what drinks are available and we're going to drink Epic Universe. Here we go. John and I decided to be responsible humans in the 90 plus degree Florida heat that felt like 96 degrees, and instead of consuming any alcohol in the morning, we decided to hit the rides in Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios pretty hard. We then found ourselves back in our hotel room regrouping before the grand opening event. Matt and John back again giving you a little update here, john, how many rides did we hit today? Uh 15. Are you able to rattle them off?
Jon:In no particular order. Let's just, we'll make this easy. Okay, we rode ET's Adventure, harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, hogwarts Express, both directions, so from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade and back again, or I guess the other way actually. But then we also got to ride Men in Black, revenge of the Mummy, transformers, VillainCon, minion Blast, the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.
Matt:I need to raise point of contention with your score for Villain Blast. I'm displeased that I lost you, but continue. What else is new?
Jon:Hagrid's Magical Creatures, motorbike Adventure, harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. And then we also got to ride velocicoaster popeye and bluto's bilge rat barges, uh, which promptly ended all sense of being able to walk with dry shoes.
Matt:So john was just uh drying his shoes with a hair dryer in our hotel room sink drying his shoes with a hair dryer in our hotel room sink.
Jon:Yeah, they don't smell great at this point in time.
Matt:But it's okay, we're only going to a quasi-fancy reception, it's fine.
Jon:It's fine. If I meet Scar Jo, she'll understand.
Matt:She'll understand your smelly shoes.
Jon:I hope I mean same way.
Matt:You would hope Emma Watson understood. Very true. All right, we got about an hour to go. We're going to head over to this reception and see what's up, walking down the blue carpet and crossing our fingers as we get to the Ministry of Magic. After a whirlwind of getting to Epic Universe, grabbing our credentials, waiting in a short line and then making a beeline to ride the Ministry of Magic, which we did gleefully, John and I were able to regroup in 1920s Paris outside of the Ministry. To give you an update, John is not in the mood to Morocco right now, but we did find some neutral seltzer and what?
Jon:do you got Florida Sunshine?
Matt:Lager. We just got off the Ministry of Magic Turned out we're being wined and dined a little bit here.
Jon:Yeah, they handed this right to me and I couldn't bring myself to say no, because that would be rude when, in Paris, that bartender is working very hard for a living.
Matt:Gotta give him a reason, that's right.
Jon:That's right we'll see what the next ride is, but this man is going hard with the maraca with the blue hat. Well done, sir. I applaud your maraca ink. You could ask for anything more, not me and we got cowbells. It's a lovely blend of of things going on over here. I would live here. This is amazing, yeah. So another thing that's incredible about this area of the park they built everything to actual one-to-one scale, so the buildings you are seeing are the exact size they would be in Paris, including that building in the back. All the way over there it is actually that tall. No forced perspective here, folks. Epic is the word. Epic is definitely the word.
Matt:Next up, john and I decided to make our way over to Darkmoor and Epic's Dark Universe. On the way, we were told by park staff that we had to stop and check out the Blue Dragon Pan Asian restaurant. We were told to sample their food and to request one or two of their signature cocktails. As we approached, their staff gave us a warm, loud welcome. Once inside, we met Brielle and Will, two of their star bartenders, who accepted our challenge to make us two of their favorite signature cocktails.
Jon:Your favorite two cocktails yes, doesn't matter.
Matt:Whatever you want Really, make what you want to make for us.
Bar Tender:Szechuan and yuzu. Szechuan and yuzu, szechuan and yuzu. Okay, szechuan and yuzu okay.
Matt:Do you want them to walk around, do you?
Bar Tender:like cucumber? And do you like whiskey?
Matt:They're going to be separate szechuan.
Bar Tender:I'm making the szechuan right now. Small cups for both. Yeah.
Matt:We got Brielle and Will helping us out here.
Bar Tender:Do you have any more yuzu juice over there? Okay, I bet, thank you. We don't have any yuzu over here. Oh, we are very low on it right now. Oh, you're going to ask them before give more yuzu juice. Do you work for Universal as well?
Jon:No, no, no, just a travel agent. I own an agency, yeah.
Bar Tender:Thank you.
Matt:Well, that's what I'm saying he will do that and I am an unworthy podcaster, oh nice. Matt and friends drink the universe podcast.
Bar Tender:There we go. Let's get you on your way to drinking the universe.
Matt:Billy's a fitting title for this it sure is.
Jon:It fits in just fine.
Bar Tender:So Szechuan Smash is one of the drinks he chose that one, the Yuzu drop, is my favorite. Okay.
Matt:This is Kukori rice whiskey.
Bar Tender:So it's a whiskey that's distilled from rice. It's actually kind of a lot of it Two and a half ounces.
Matt:Alright.
Bar Tender:Some honey. It's just normal honey, it's not alcoholic but it's just delicious.
Jon:And then I'll rinse this out with an ounce of yuzu juice, making sure that's what I'm pouring.
Bar Tender:This isn't really fun drink. You'll see why in a second I'll give it a rough little shake here, alright. Look how cooked it is. Uh, oh Well I guess I was putting it in a smaller cup here, but I'll still be able to do the fun magic trick with it Okay. It gets some smoke on it, but yeah, I think it'll work. I think it'll work.
Matt:She is smoking a cocktail for us right now.
Jon:What is that one?
Matt:That is the, that's the yuzu.
Jon:This was the Szechuan smash.
Bar Tender:Oh, that's the Szechuan smash. So it's a ginger-infused smoke on top of it.
Matt:Oh, that's cool. Ginger-infused smoke on top. Here we go. Yep, 100%. I got just fruity amazingness. They're all different things. It's always the ones that don't taste like alcohol that are the problematic ones. Oh boy, mm-hmm yeah.
Jon:I can see myself getting into trouble with that.
Bar Tender:Oh yeah, that's good so this one is made it's kind of our take on an Asian lemon dry. It uses soju, which is another rice-based liqueur. It's a spirit distilled from rice. It's two and a half ounces, so it's pretty strong as well. And then a little bit of St Germain Yuzu juice, of course. So these are both drinks that use yuzu juice.
Matt:All right.
Bar Tender:Some simple syrup. It's really tasty.
Matt:And then cucumber bitters. I got an order from the bar and I got more of that.
Jon:No, I'll do the next one.
Matt:You want the next one.
Bar Tender:Grab the barfly shaker. This is embarrassing. I want this next one. You want the next one? Grab the barfly shaker. This is embarrassing.
Jon:Happens to everyone True.
Bar Tender:Oh my God, it's harder you work than you drink. The better it tastes.
Matt:Yeah, you know, that's all that means Damn the humidity in Florida, do we?
Bar Tender:have a strainer, or Do you grab the stuff from here? Alright, and then this one gets garnished with a dragon fruit.
Matt:Garnished with a dragon fruit.
Bar Tender:That was an oozer drop there you go.
Jon:Oozer drop. Are those buzz buttons in there? What was that? Are those buzz buttons in there? What was that? Are those buzz buttons in there? They are Session One popcorn. Okay, it has a similar. Yup, it's similar to that. Thank you.
Matt:After riding Monsters Unchained, which was absolutely spectacular, we decided to head over to the Burning Blade Tavern to try two of their signature cocktails. If you'd like to see a video of the tavern on fire the actual Burning Blades check out our Instagram. So we are at the Burning Blade Tavern right now. We're hoping to catch an on-fire windmill in a few minutes, but I'm going with the Pure of Heart which is mojito style, a little on the sweeter side, and John went with the my only weakness Very cool.
Jon:All right, Charlie, this is my only weakness.
Bar Tender:There is an eyeball on top. I don't know which creature it came with. We keep a stockpile but no labels.
Matt:Perfect, very nice eyeball. It looks good. I'm sure the creature is not missing it at all.
Bar Tender:You don't have to compliment them, they're already dead.
Jon:Oh, that's delicious.
Bar Tender:Is this your first time in Darkmoor? Have you been here before this?
Jon:is our first time, our first visit to Darkmoor.
Bar Tender:Well, I might have to do a little extra work, but that's okay as long as it keeps you somewhat safe. That's all that matters. Appreciate that.
Bar Tender:The rides so far have been amazing, oh you're getting a smoked beverage coming up, so the primary ingredient in this drink is going to be werewolf's blood. We do have to purify it just to make it a little safer for you to consume. As a bonus to you at no additional cost, this should mask your scent from monsters or things that smell like monsters and dark lore. Present company is included.
Matt:Okay.
Bar Tender:Like most things in the village, though, it's not 100% effective. I highly recommend running if something chases you and in the event, they catch up to you and it has been nice knowing you. You all seem like great people but don't bring them back to the tavern. That is your pure of heart. Thank you. Feel free to use these to ward off monsters. Don't know how far you're going to get, though. Have a great time.
Matt:Try to come back in one piece. Ok, appreciate, it Will do. Thank you so much, man. All right, so I'm going in for the pure fart right now, john. Ok, very tasty, a little like blackberry brandy vibes going on. Ok, fruity sweet, exactly what I was hoping for at this point, given that it's a million degrees out, and I needed something a little on the refreshing side.
Jon:But I've got my only weakness with the eye of something. So there's some kind of eyeball here, Nondescript eyeball. Whoa, how to? Mm. That is a really, really tasty, but like fruity gin and tonic. Okay, that's good, that's refreshing Again. Kind of what I needed right now because it's 150 degrees outside.
Matt:I saw it had a apriole in it and a few other things. I think I saw some blackberry in there too.
Jon:No, the drinks in there are good.
Matt:Oh yeah, 10 out of 10, matt and friends drink. The universe Gonna call the Burning Blade a stellar sip. You need to go. Once John and I finished up at the Burning Blade Tavern and saw it on fire. We moved over to the Curse of the Werewolf coaster, which was absolutely fantastic, one of my favorites for the day. From there we moved over to Super Nintendo World, which was just fantastic. Minecart Madness over in the Donkey Kong area fantastic. That ride is just a cut above. And then the Mario Kart ride is like being inside of all your childhood Mario Kart driving fantasies.
Matt:From there we stopped at a place called the Bubbling Barrel for a DK Crush float, which came in a tropical DK barrel with lots of banana flavor. Of course absolutely had to mention that ice cream float Fantastic. Hits the spot when you're a little parched. Towards the end of the night. From there we went over to the Isle of Berg, which was completely mind-blowing. The rides there are fantastic. The area there is just so well done being how to Train your Dragon themed. It was again mind-blowing. From there we watched the end of the night fireworks spectacular and a little drone action at the end. And then John and I were able to regroup one last time to wrap up the event for you. Okay, epic is underselling the nightmare.
Jon:Listen. Epic doesn't quite get it.
Matt:No, have we paid for a drink yet this evening?
Jon:No, we have not. No, that's the thing we quite literally drank the universe, yes, all expenses paid. Courtesy NBC Universal. I'm sorry.
Matt:Yes, we drank multiple universes. I'm finishing up the night on a parallax punch right now. I wish I could tell you the name of the bar I got it from, but I can tell you. It's just to the right of the Helios Hotel, which looks gloriously epic as I'm standing in front of it right now. John and I, as we went through and hit rides tonight, started with the Ministry of Magic. We then moved on to Dark Universe and we hit Monsters, unchained and the Werewolf, yeah, and then we moved over to Mario and in Mario we did Donkey Kong, which I'm gonna be really honest, and I will tell you Donkey Kong a little herky-jerky, got the elbow a few times.
Jon:It's a little rough and it's a little short. It is. It's still cool. If you're a fan of the franchise, oh yeah, like I am, I grew up playing that, I had to ride that and I will ride it again, but I'll be better prepared for the jerkiness.
Matt:Probably wrap yourself in bubble wrap or something.
Jon:That's probably a good idea. My knee still hurts.
Matt:Yes, the Nintendo world in general is overwhelming when you walk in If you're a video gamer at all. I actually had tears in my eyes because all of you have listened to my podcast before and know I'm a huge gamer. It was unbelievable, walking in there, killed you there we did yes, we did the mario kart ride also, which was phenomenal, and then we moved over to the isle of berk.
Jon:I didn't miss anything right no, uh, isle of berk is just I. I can't wait to see it during the day because we saw that night at night crazy cool. I mean, the concept art looked awesome. It didn't do it justice. It's way better. We got the opportunity to ride the roller coaster over there Hiccup sliders or something, I don't remember what it's called Hiccup.
Matt:sliders is the one we were worried was gonna flip us upside down.
Jon:No, it was a different one.
Matt:We rode how to Train your Dragon, I think was the name of that ride. It wasn't no, no, it was a really cool coaster.
Jon:Fun family coaster. A lot of cool surprises on it. Definitely enjoyable, definitely a ton of fun. I'll ride it again and again, and again and again.
Matt:Oh, yeah, not overly intense.
Jon:No, very relaxed.
Matt:Matt here does not not do upside down twisty-turvy roller coasters in general, and that one was just perfect.
Jon:We rate things here on the number of mats that it would take to ride the coaster. That particular coaster was one. It's a one mat coaster, Whereas like Velocicoaster is like a 12 mat coaster.
Matt:That's true. There's way too much gravity involved in that coaster for me to get on it.
Jon:Matt was fine on that coaster. Honestly, everything in this park is pretty approachable.
Matt:Yeah, I would put my nine-year-old on any of the rides here. I think she would absolutely love that.
Jon:They're really approachable.
Matt:Nothing's too crazy, no, but everything is spectacular, I mean, I feel like we, almost short, sold ourselves on checking out all the places to eat or drink.
Jon:Yeah, we do that.
Matt:We miss the Moonshine Bar at Harry Potter. I'm so glad that we got to see the Flaming Blade up at Dark Universe. That was a highlight for me. But next time I come back here I could probably walk around and just find places to eat or drink all day. And thank you to Universal in general they took such good care of us tonight I can't even begin to describe how well we were. Taking care of Wine and dine doesn't even do it. I can't wait to bring my family back later to do this with me.
Jon:I've been on this planet for 39 plus years. I've never been wined and dined the way I was this evening. No Very enjoyable experience. The crowd levels were obviously very, very, very low, yeah, which made for a really good time. I don't think there were more than 5,000 people. Here is what they said. So every ride was five minutes. Walk on, walk on, walk on, walk on.
Matt:Yeah, we didn't wait for a ride. We were a little spoiled this evening.
Jon:All day. Yeah, yes, this park is incredible. It's everything it was built up to be and then some and words do not quite do it justice They've found the perfect blend of technology and realism that we creates for an immersive experience.
Matt:But we didn't get on one ride that John had me primed for. I was willing to step it up at the last minute here.
Jon:Yeah, someone didn't want to go on the Stardust Racers, but we didn't get to because they closed it right as we were about to, so the fireworks could occur, which was a really good show. That was a lot of fireworks.
Matt:There it was. It was epic. I have a video of that on Instagram. Epic Ha, it's a pun.
Bar Tender:Go ahead and check out that video overall.
Matt:We're probably going to have to run out of here shortly. But, John, how many rides did we do today? We did 14 before we left the Universal Park.
Jon:We're easily over 25. Yeah, we did a lot of rides today, but we do have nine minutes left before they kick us out of here and the bar is closed in nine minutes, so we get another one. The only way that we could possibly do this in proper Matt and Friends Drink the Universe fashion is to grab another beverage on our way out the door.
Matt:It's been awesome hanging out with John from Poppins Travel. We're gonna make our way out of this park. We're gonna raid one more bar, thank you.
