How did a drunk church-goer influence the Navy’s go-to-beverage? What does a Persian fruit beverage and sherbet powder have to do with each other? How did an American favorite drink fall from grace? And why does tomato juice taste so much better on a plane?

In this month's livestream, John and Patrick each reveal their top three produce-based drinks from history.

From orange juice’s vital role in World War II to grape juice’s unexpected place in the fight against alcoholism, these drinks don’t just quench thirst - they reflect the spirit of their times.

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Robert Fortune’s journey was far from over. After infiltrating China in disguise, Fortune now sets his sights on the Wuyi Mountains—steeped in legend, veiled in mist, and home to the most coveted tea in the world: black tea. Guided by his newly appointed servant, the enigmatic Sing-Hoo, Fortune pushes deeper into China’s forbidden interior, navigating treacherous paths and even more treacherous politics. But not all goes according to plan. His prized green tea shipment meets an unfortunate fate, while back in India, the impulsive botanist William Jameson jeopardizes the mission with his rash decisions.

Yet amid the chaos, Fortune finds unexpected wisdom among Buddhist monks, who not only reveal the secrets of cultivating tea but also teach him how to brew the perfect cup. It’s in these sacred temples, not the markets of London, that the future of tea begins to shift.

As Fortune’s precious tea plants take root in the Himalayan foothills, Indian tea is born—forever altering the global balance of trade. From British agent to American hire, Robert Fortune’s legacy would be one of ambition, deception, and botanical revolution. He didn't just steal tea—he transformed it.

Join John and Patrick for the thrilling conclusion of Fortune’s audacious adventure, as they uncover the spiritual, imperial, and agricultural dimensions of one of history’s greatest botanical heists.

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The British thirst for tea had become insatiable by the mid-19th century, but there was one problem: nearly all of it came from China. For the East India Company, this dependency was a costly vulnerability. What they needed wasn’t more silver to trade but a way to break China’s monopoly entirely. Enter Robert Fortune: a Scottish botanist with a talent for subterfuge, a taste for adventure, and an uncanny knack for survival.

In this first part of a two-part series, John and Patrick trace the remarkable early life of Fortune - from his humble Scottish beginnings to his acclaimed first expedition in China that put him on the map. With the East India Company desperate to grow its own tea in India, Fortune is entrusted with a daring mission: to steal the secrets of tea production from deep within the Chinese heartland.

Clad in local robes and speaking rough Pidgin, Fortune navigated a dangerous landscape few foreigners ever saw - sneaking through the storied city of Hangzhou and gaining rare access to a green tea factory. But what he found there would shock even him: Chinese producers were secretly poisoning the tea, adding toxic pigments to create a more vibrant hue for foreign buyers.

Join John and Patrick as they trace the first steps of this daring mission, where botany, espionage, and empire collide, and the fate of tea - and indeed, global trade - hangs in the balance.

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When Portuguese traders arrived on India’s western shores in the early 1500s, they brought more than religion, colonial ambition, and a lust for spice - they also carried with them a tiny, crimson fruit that would set Asia ablaze.

In part two of their deep dive into the scorching history of chili peppers, John and Patrick trace the pepper’s path across India, China, and Korea, where it would come to define cuisines, ignite revolutions, and even ward off evil spirits.

From its humble beginnings in Goan gardens to the fiery markets of Guntur, from Sichuan’s numbing heat to the fermented jars of kimchi on Seoul’s rooftops, this episode follows the trail of Capsicum as it infiltrates empires and reshapes entire culinary traditions. Along the way, we’ll meet Buddhist monks, Portuguese conquerors, imperial skeptics, Communist revolutionaries, and, of course, Wilbur Scoville—the mild-mannered American pharmacist who gave us a way to measure the madness.

Join John and Patrick for the sizzling second act of this global saga—a tale of heat, history, and the humble pepper that conquered the world.

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For millennia, chili peppers have been at the heart of the Americas - long before Columbus set sail, before the Aztecs built their empire, and before the Incas wove them into myth. Originating in what is now Peru and Bolivia, these fiery pods were among the first crops cultivated by humans, shaping the diets, medicine, and rituals of entire civilizations.

From the wild “tolerated weeds” of early foragers to the carefully cultivated varieties prized by the Maya and Aztecs, chiles were far more than a seasoning - they were power, tribute, and even punishment. In Incan lore, Brother Chile Pepper was woven into creation myths, while Aztec markets overflowed with dozens of varieties, traded and taxed like gold. When Columbus finally arrived in the Caribbean, he wasn’t discovering chiles - he was stumbling upon a centuries-old tradition that had already conquered the New World.

Join John and Patrick as they trace the ancient roots of the chile pepper, exploring its sacred role in pre-Columbian societies, its legendary place in Aztec and Incan mythology, and the fateful moment it first crossed the Atlantic. But this is just the beginning - because once Columbus carried chiles back to Spain, their journey was only getting started.

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On August 23, 1919, a celebratory dinner at the Lakeside Club in Canton, Ohio, was held in honor of Col. Charles C. Weybrecht’s return from France at the end of the First World War. But what began as a joyous occasion soon turned tragic, as guests fell ill - and over the following days, several would die.

In this month’s History of Fresh Produce livestream, we delve into the infamous event known as The Great Olive Poisoning, a case that would help shape America’s food safety system. How did olives play a role in the deadly outbreak? How many lives were lost? What was the impact on the olive industry? And most chillingly—was it an accident, or something more sinister?

Join John and Patrick as they unravel this real-life murder mystery, where fresh produce was at the heart of it all.

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The story of the olive is one of resilience, empire, and cultural transformation. From its first human interactions in Africa over 100,000 years ago to its role in the economies of the great Mediterranean civilizations, the olive tree has been a silent witness to the rise and fall of history’s greatest powers. In the Eastern Mediterranean, early farmers began cultivating olives nearly 7,000 years ago, setting the stage for what would become an essential commodity of the ancient world.

Join John and Patrick as they trace the olive’s journey from its first cultivation in the Levant to its sacred status in ancient Greece, where it adorned Olympic champions and fueled temple lamps. Discover how the Romans transformed olive oil into a vast commercial empire, using it for food, lighting, medicine, and even as a tax currency. Learn how olive groves survived the decline of Rome, weathered the Middle Ages, and ultimately laid the foundation for the Mediterranean’s enduring love affair with this golden elixir.

From trade routes to warfare, from myth to medicine, this is the epic tale of the olive—a story that spans continents and centuries, shaping the world in ways we still feel today.

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In the wake of war, division, and rapid industrialization, South Korea’s countryside faced a crisis. By the late 1960s, rural poverty was deepening, farmers were abandoning their fields for the cities, and the gap between urban and rural life had never been wider. But then, a dramatic shift began.

Join John and Patrick as they explore the origins and impact of the Saemaul Undong Movement - the sweeping rural development program launched by President Park Chung-Hee in the 1970s. But to understand why this movement was necessary, they first take a journey through Korea’s long and complex agricultural history, from dynastic land ownership and Japanese colonial rule to postwar land reforms and the struggle for modernization.

How did centuries of social hierarchy shape Korea’s farmland? Why did colonial policies leave so many farmers dispossessed? And what led Park’s government to turn its focus back to the countryside? Tune in for a deep dive into one of the most ambitious agricultural revolutions of the 20th century.

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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