Brews You Can Use
Last summer, I referenced Buckfast Tonic Wine, a caffeine-infused wine made by the Benedictine monks of Buckfast. Yesterday, I saw this "Today I Learned" at Reddit: "TIL Buckfast, a caffeinated tonic wine, accounts for less than half a percent of Scotland's total alcohol sales but is a factor in over 40 percent of arrests." The link provided by Reddit: How a Tonic Wine Brewed by Monks Became the Scourge of Scotland. Excerpt:
At £7 ($9) a bottle, Buckfast tonic wine isn't the cheapest alcoholic drink you can buy in Scotland. And at 15 percent alcohol, it isn't the strongest, either. For the vast majority of people, it would be a stretch to call it the tastiest. (Satisfied customers who've bought it on Amazon would beg to differ, saying it tastes like “tears of angels” or the “elixir of life.” One adds: “They say it has no medicinal properties. But I am pretty sure they are lying.”)
What it might be, though, is the most incendiary. Though Buckfast accounts for barely half a percent of Scotland's total alcohol sales, in 2015 the Scottish Prison Service found that over 40 percent of inmates had drunk some quantity of the stuff before their last offense. Of these, many were violent. (Some enterprising inmates had drained the glass bottle dry and then found it a handy solution for a weapon.) “The Buckie made me do it” is apparently the classic defense.
It's an interesting article, though I seriously doubt its main point: That Buckfast is causing the crime. It's far more likely that Buckfast has become the drink-of-choice among criminals and fueling their crime, just as any alcohol would.
That being said, my gut tells me the caffeine content (281 mg per 750 ml . . . about 1.35 cups of drip coffee per 12 ounces) ain't helping matters. But regardless, until I see otherwise-law-abiding folk turning violent after drinking the Buckie, I don't buy it.
I would, however, like to buy it, just to try. I searched Amazon and nothing came up. If anyone knows where I can legally find a bottle, please email me.
