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Similar Irn‑Bru, Bénédictine, Tonic water, Munchy box, Haggis | ||
Beverage guide express buckfast tonic wine
Buckfast Tonic Wine, commonly known as Buckfast or Buckie, is a fortified wine with caffeine, licensed from Buckfast Abbey in Devon and distributed by J. Chandler & Company in the United Kingdom and Grants of Ireland in Ireland.
Contents
The drink has become a subject of controversy in Scotland due to its links with ned culture; a senior politician labelled it as "a badge of pride amongst those who are involved in antisocial behaviour".
Buckfast is very popular in Scotland, the sales of the product were monitored in 2014 by the Scottish government to see if the "Buckfast Triangle" still stood. The test showed that the towns and cities where Buckfast was sold highest per capita were, in order, Glasgow and the surrounding areas, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Cambuslang, and Coatbridge, all of which are in the northern areas of Lanarkshire, excepting Glasgow.
It has also become popular in Ireland; "thousands" of empty Buckfast bottles were recovered in a clean-up of the Claddagh Basin in Galway City.
History
The wine, which is still manufactured using many of the same ingredients, is based on a traditional recipe from France. The Benedictine monks at Buckfast Abbey first made the tonic wine in the 1890s. It was originally sold in small quantities as a medicine using the slogan "Three small glasses a day, for good health and lively blood".
In 1927, the Abbey lost its licence to sell wine. As a result, the Abbot allowed wine merchants to distribute on behalf of the Abbey. At the same time, the recipe was changed to be less of a patent medicine and more of a medicated wine.
The wine, which comes in distinct brands depending on the market, has achieved popularity in working class, student, and bohemian communities in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, Buckfast is packaged in a darker bottle, has a slightly lower alcoholic strength, and lacks the vanillin flavouring present in the British version. Buckfast sold in Northern Ireland is the same as that sold in the rest of the UK.
Versions
Buckfast contains 15% alcohol in the 750 ml green-bottled UK version, and 14.8% in the brown-bottled Republic of Ireland version, which equates to roughly 11.25 UK units of alcohol.
Both versions of the drink contain phosphate and glycerophosphate (each of these as the sodium and/or potassium salt).
The "brown bottle" Buckfast has a caffeine content about equal to brewed or percolated coffee, while the "green bottle" Buckfast has a caffeine content about equal to black tea. However independent research says the "green bottle" Buckfast contains the same amount of caffeine as six cups of coffee and Buckfast—drop for drop—has more caffeine in it than Red Bull.