Anybody tried Buckfast Tonic Wine?

[Weyland]

I would love to try some of this stuff !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckfast_Tonic_Wine

Buckfast Tonic Wine, commonly known as Buckfast or Buckie, is a fortified wine produced by Buckfast Abbey in Devon, south west England. The wine was first produced in 1890s by the Benedictine monks at Buckfast Abbey using a recipe brought over from France, as indeed is the wine base used today.

The wine was originally sold in small quantities by the Abbey itself, as a medicine with 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 of which the Abbot signed a deal with wine merchants to distribute the wine on the Abbey's behalf. At the same time, the recipe was changed in order for the wine to appeal to a wider customer base, resulting in increased sales. The modern bottle carries a notice that it does not in fact have tonic properties of the type claimed in the former slogan.

In recent times, Buckfast has achieved popularity in working class and bohemian communities in certain parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Buckfast is also particularly popular among the Scottish ned culture and Irish students. Buckfast sold in the Republic of Ireland has a slightly lower alcoholic strength, arrives in a darker bottle, and lacks the vanillin flavouring of the British version. Buckfast sold in Northern Ireland is the same as that in the rest of the UK. The drink has also entered the popular culture lexicon in Scotland leading to it being given a number of nicknames, including "Wreck the Hoose Juice", "Commotion Lotion" and "Mrs. Brown".[1]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Controversy
* 2 Ingredients
o 2.1 "Green bottle" Buckfast tonic wine, usually found in the United Kingdom
o 2.2 "Brown bottle" Buckfast variant, typically from Ireland
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

[edit] Controversy
A bottle of Buckfast in the street. Buckfast's perception as being involved with street drinking, public intoxication and anti-social behaviour has caused controversy in some areas.

Within the above areas, Buckfast is alleged to be the drink of choice for drinkers who are prone to committing anti-social behaviour when drunk, especially drinkers under 18 years. Its high strength (15% ABV/14.8% in the Republic of Ireland), relatively low price and sweetness are characteristics that are thought to appeal to underage drinkers.[2] The drink also has a very high caffeine content.[3]

Many politicians and social activists single out Buckfast Tonic Wine as being particularly responsible for crime, disorder, and general social deprivation in these communities (although in reality Buckfast is only one of a number of brands consumed abusively, and accounts for only 0.5% of alcohol sales in Scotland, although the figure is markedly higher in Lanarkshire, located within Scotland "Buckfast belt"- see above).[4] Helen Liddell, former Secretary of State for Scotland, even called for the wine to be banned. The then Scottish Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson MSP, suggested that retailers should stop selling Buckfast. On a subsequent visit to Auchinleck, a town within her constituency, she faced an impromptu demonstration by teenagers chanting "Don't ban Buckie".[5] Jamieson subsequently received correspondence from lawyers acting on behalf of J Chandler & Co., the Andover-based distributors of Buckfast.[6] A further consequence was that Buckfast sales increased substantially in the months following her comments.[4]

A further attack was made in 2006, by Andy Kerr, then the Scottish Executive's Health Minister. In a radio interview on 23 September 2006, he described the drink as "an irresponsible drink in its own right" and a contributor to anti-social behaviour, and was in turn accused of showing "bad manners" and a "complete lack of judgement" by the distributors.[7] Kerr met with J Chandler & Co. to discuss ways of lessening the drink's impact on the west of Scotland, but the talks broke up without agreement. Both parties hoped to make further progress in the future.

On 19 November 2006, Jack McConnell, the then First Minister of Scotland, entered the fray stating that Buckfast is not only particularly attractive to young people for the aforementioned reasons, but had become a "a badge of pride amongst those who are involved in antisocial behaviour."[8] A spokesperson for J Chandler & Co accused the Executive of trying to blame the drinks industry to avoid having to deal with consequences of failed social policy and the actual individuals involved in antisocial behaviour.

In January 2010 a BBC investigation revealed that Buckfast was mentioned in 5,638 crime reports in the Strathclyde area of Scotland from 2006-2009, equating to three a day on average. One in 10 of those offences was violent and the bottle was used as a weapon 114 times in that period. Further, of those offenders who had been drinking immediately before their offence, more than 40% had been drinking Buckfast.[9]

The monks of Buckfast Abbey and their distribution partners strenuously deny that their product is particularly harmful, saying that it is responsibly and legally enjoyed by the great majority of purchasers. They also point out that the areas identified with its acute misuse have been economically deprived for decades, and that Buckfast represents less than one percent of the total alcohol sales in these places.
[edit] Ingredients
[edit] "Green bottle" Buckfast tonic wine, usually found in the United Kingdom

* Red wine based aperitif.
* Sodium glycerophosphate, an emulsifier.
* Dipotassium phosphate, a protein stabiliser
* Disodium phosphate, a stabiliser and emulsifer.
* Caffeine, 37.5mg/100ml (i.e. 0.0375 % w/v)
* Vanillin

[edit] "Brown bottle" Buckfast variant, typically from Ireland

* Red wine based aperitif
* Sodium and potassium glycerophosphates - both measured at 0.65% w/v.
* Disodium phosphate, a stabiliser and emulsifer.
* Caffeine, 55mg/100ml (i.e. 0.055% w/v)
* Sulfite preservatives.


9. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8464359.stm

[edit] External links

* Buckfast Abbey's page on their tonic wine

[Weyland]

Whats really amazing is that this wine has as much caffeine a 8 pack of coca cola. Imagine that LOL!!

[---]

yes, it's nice.

[Weyland]

(01-22-2010 07:19 AM)nik Wrote:  yes, it's nice.

I don't know Nik but I get the feeling that you are like a fucking hardcore Buckfast tonic wine drinker. You probably get fucking crazy and break the bottle and use it as weapon LOL!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IueTLbE3Q...re=related

[---]

(01-22-2010 08:13 AM)Weyland Wrote:  

(01-22-2010 07:19 AM)nik Wrote:  yes, it's nice.

I don't know Nik but I get the feeling that you are like a fucking hardcore Buckfast tonic wine drinker. You probably get fucking crazy and break the bottle and use it as weapon LOL!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IueTLbE3Q...re=related

lol Weyland - he looked like the kind of boy that we used to have to clobber with our skateboards to stop them from encouraging us into hospital grade pulp.

nope - I started drinking late - at that stage in my career in consciousness I was more interested in weed and showing off 360 kickflips to girls.

now - if I drink I try and keep it to my own dosages of potable ethanol and fruit juice - ethanol is by far the cleanest way to drink alcohol - just have to be careful as it's almost 100%