The popularity and story behind Glasgow’s love for Buckfast Tonic Wine

Buckie; here in Glasgow we know that name all too well - whether it brings a warm smile to your face or an impromptu trip to A&E - Buckfast Tonic Wine is ubiquitous across the city.

Scientists have linked the drunken effects of red bull mixed with alcohol to the body’s reaction to cocaine. It would only make sense then that Buckfast - which has the same caffeine content as red bull, 30mg - would produce similar effects.

Somehow though, Buckfast has the unparalleled ability to send Glaswegians tonto. Which is surprising given that the Tonic Wine isn’t even particularly that strong, at 15% alcohol, nor very cheap, costing at least £8 for 75cl.

Most people know by now that Buckfast Tonic Wine was originally produced by the peaceful Benedictine monks at Buckfast Abbey. An ironic fact that Glaswegians like to show off often - usually after a violent fight has broken out from a reveller indulging in one too many swallies of the tonic wine.

Buckie enjoyed most of its popularity in the ‘Buckfast Triangle’ - Airdrie, Coatbridge, and Bellshill. Mention of Buckfast appeared in 5,638 crime reports in Strathclyde from 2006-2009, which equates to three a day on average.

Originally sold as a medicine, Buckie isn’t even really a wine, it’s a ‘mistella’, an unfermented grape juice fortified with ethanol. In an alternative universe, we could have seen groups of drunk teens chanting ‘Buckfast tonic mistella’ on the way home from a night out - although we doubt it would have caught on the same way.

So why is it the drink of choice for folks across Glasgow and the rest of Scotland? A slightly sectarian theory posits its similarity to communion wine - also a mistella - made Catholic Celtic fans drawn to the drink in the 70s due to its similarity to communion wine.

If you’ve ever drank Buckfast at a party, no doubt someone will try and offer you some explanation to Buckfast’s almost mystical properties. One hair-brained theory claims that the chemicals added to buckfast - sodium glycerophosphate, dipotassium phosphate and disodium phosphate - are behind it, although these are incredibly common food preservatives and often used together.

The truth behind it is, mos people aren’t drinking it for the taste - you’ll know the unique flavour, somewhere between Calpol and incredibly strong diluent juice - which Buckie aficionados would call an ‘acquired taste’.

Buckfast has cemented itself in British culture as a working-class, Glaswegian drink - and this wasn’t done through marketing, nor was it because it tasted a bit like communion wine. In our opinion, it’s more of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Buckfast Tonic Wine has been an ‘orbital news item’ since its popularity began in Scotland in the 70’s - appearing in the news once a year or so with links to its proclivity to cause anti-social behaviour.

Former First Minister, Jack McConnell, a man who has probably never drank Buckie in his life, branded the drink ‘a badge of pride amongst those who are involved in antisocial behaviour’. He’s not wrong, but these types of comments only serve to further the mysticism behind Buckfast Tonic Wine, and further popularise the now-forbidden drink.

The more classist critics of the fortified wine might even point to the potential the bottle holds to be used as a weapon as one of the reasons it’s chosen. This theory, while based on the evidence that Buckfast bottles are often used to 'glass' or 'bottle' people (Buckfast bottles were used as weapons 114 times between 2006-2009), it’s more likely that the bottle is more a weapon of opportunity used in the Buckie-fueled heat of the moment.

It’s the mythos and cultural significance behind Buckfast is what keeps people coming back - for the younger generations in Glasgow drinking your first swig of Buckfast Tonic Wine is a rite of passage.