Buckfast Tonic Wine is a caffeinated fortified wine that was originally made at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England. The alcoholic drink, which is now made under a license granted by the monastery, is distributed by J. Chandler & Company in the United Kingdom and Grants of Ireland Ltd in Ireland. It is based on a traditional recipe from France. The wine's distributor reported record sales of £43.2 million as of March 2017.
Despite being marketed as a tonic, Buckfast has become notorious in Scotland for its association with the loutish ned culture. Jack McConnell, the former First Minister of Scotland, has called the drink "a badge of pride amongst those who are involved in antisocial behaviour". High retail sales are recorded throughout the Central Lowlands including Glasgow and the surrounding areas of East Kilbride, Hamilton, Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Cambuslang, and Coatbridge.
Buckfast is also sold in Ireland. Thousands of empty bottles have been recovered during a clean-up of the Eglinton Canal (Claddagh Basin) in the city of Galway.
Video Buckfast Tonic Wine
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.
Maps Buckfast Tonic Wine
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 sold in Ireland has a caffeine content about equal to a strong espresso coffee (60mg/100ml) whereas the UK-sold "green bottle" Buckfast has a caffeine content about equal to strong black tea (25mg/100ml).
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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