Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) is already back in stores, and in honor of the drink’s annual arrival last Tuesday, the Washington Post published a bizarre piece alerting readers of “the violent history behind your favorite Starbucks latte,” which reportedly includes “war, genocide and slavery.”
“PSL is back, and so is its connection to a centuries old genocide,” writes Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post. “Underneath those fuzzy-sweater vibes, the spices in ‘the PSL’ have a dark history.”
“It’s a story of war, genocide and slavery,” affirms Brockell.
The WaPo piece begins by briefly touching upon the history of an ingredient found in the PSL, nutmeg, which is native to the Banda Islands — today’s Indonesia — and had made the Bandanese, who traded the spices, rich during the Middle Ages.
Brockell’s history lesson then segues into the late 16th, early 17th century, to divulge European explorers arriving on the islands, which then reportedly resulted in war, slavery, and “near-extinction of the Bandanese.” – READ MORE