What if the modern world was shaped by people wanting better-tasting food?
In this episode of Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill, we dive into the surprisingly wild history of the spice trade — from pepper worth its weight in silver to the Dutch East India Company, piracy, colonialism, the Columbian Exchange, and the discovery of chocolate, chili peppers, coffee, tea, and sugar.
Along the way, we explore:
- Why spices were once luxury items for kings
- How the search for cinnamon and pepper helped launch the Age of Exploration
- Why Columbus accidentally found the Americas
- How the Dutch created one of the world’s first mega-corporations
- The dark side of the spice trade: war, slavery, and empire
- Why your kitchen spice cabinet is a tiny museum of world history
Plus: Crowhill experiments with a homemade Manhattan variation called “The Dutch Indian.”
History, economics, food, exploration, trade, empire, and cocktails — all in one conversation.
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