You’ve heard the phrase “don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” Maybe you’ve even said it.

But where did it actually come from?

In Episode 8 of True Mocktails, we’re going down one of our darkest rabbit holes yet: the tragedy at Jonestown, the history of Peoples Temple, and how an event that took the lives of more than 900 people eventually became a casual phrase we use to describe blindly following something.

And then there’s the detail that surprises almost everybody:

It wasn’t actually Kool-Aid.

We’re talking about what was really documented in the drink, how Kool-Aid became permanently attached to the story anyway, and why the phrase we still use today leaves out so much of what actually happened — including coercion, manipulation, fear, and the people who never had a choice.

This episode is heavier than our usual round of True Mocktails, but it’s a story worth understanding beyond the shorthand.

So grab your good glass, get comfortable, and come down the rabbit hole with me.

Featured drink: Grape Kool-Aid
Host: your digital home bartender, Princess

Salu. Let me take a sip.

Content note: This episode discusses mass death, coercion, murder, child deaths, and the Jonestown tragedy.

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If this episode sent you down the rabbit hole too, share it with the same person you’d share a drink with.

Question for the Drinkers and Thinkers: Before this episode, did you know it wasn’t actually Kool-Aid?