Thousands of empty Buckfast bottles – or Bucky, as it’s known – were found at the bottom of the Claddagh basin in Galway city earlier this year. Popular as ever, it seems, the appeal of this so-called tonic wine is more to do with its potent mix of alcohol and caffeine than its taste, which is a bit like cordial mixed with cough syrup (if you haven’t had the pleasure of trying it yet).
Originally created by the Benedictine monks of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, who are fond of their 5am prayer sessions and bee-keeping, Buckfast is now associated with a less pious kind of lifestyle.
The monks, somewhat unfairly, regularly come under fire for the drink’s connection to antisocial behaviour.
“The Bucky made me do it!” is a well-known phrase in Scotland, apparently, where politicians and police regularly point the finger of blame at the Buckfast monks for the woes of society.
So how would you feel about a Buckfast-infused beer? Or does the sight of the bottle – and that orange label with the purple grapes – give you queasy flashbacks to your youth?
Irish electro group King Kong Company – who sometimes like to perform with cardboard boxes on their heads and have been known to sing about Buckfast, among other things, in their songs – have teamed up with Wexford’s YellowBelly brewery to make “the ultimate festival beer” with fruit and “Bucky”.
Commotion Lotion is a 4.4 per cent lager – and comes in an especially cool can – and is made with tonic wine, raspberries, pineapple and strawberries. It’s crisp and dry with a sweetness (of the syrupy kind) that builds as you drink. I wasn’t expecting to like this much but it’s surprisingly drinkable – though I did feel like smashing the place up afterwards.
@ITbeerista beerista@iristhimes.com
