Buckfast, a fortified wine, may be made by the monks of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England, but it's the Scots (obviously) who are the world leaders in its consumption.
We all know that Scotland has a drink problem. Annually, they drink much more than their English neighbours. In the 12 months up to September 2009, the Scots bought the equivalent of 25% more pure alcohol per head than the English and the Welsh.
And HALF of all the world's Buckfast that is consumed is consumed in Scotland.
Buckfast is popular with Scottish "neds" - the equivalent of England's "chavs". Neds and chavs are teenagers of working class background, who wear brand names,gold jewellery (females often wear their name in large gold lettering), and engage in hooliganism, petty criminality, loutish behaviour, fighting, underage drinking and smoking or general anti-social behaviour.
Now, to help combat Scotland's out of control alcohol problem, some Scottish politicians are considering banning Buckfast.
Buckfast tonic wine
Bottling it
A row over alcohol targets a distant producer
Jan 21st 2010 | EDINBURGH | From The Economist print edition
Buckfast, a 15% proof tonic wine, may be produced by Benedictine monks in England, but half of what is consumed in the world is consumed by the Scots
SCOTS have a problem with drink, their government reckons. This week it published a study showing that they bought the equivalent of 50.5 million litres of pure alcohol in the 12 months to September 2009, 25% more per head than people in England and Wales did.
Cynics might think that is because they also MAKE a lot of the stuff: 525m litres, on 2008 figures. As drink has a lot to do with crime and poor health, politicians want to do something to stem the flow of it down people’s throats. But it seems a little odd that a particular target of political ire is a Benedictine abbey in Devon, ENGLAND and not Scotland’s big distillers.
The monks have long made a tonic wine named after their abbey, Buckfast. About half of annual sales, worth £37m in all, go to Scotland. Much of it has traditionally been consumed in Lanarkshire, perhaps because local chemists, before licensing restrictions, used to stock it and doctors prescribed it as a pick-me-up for tired workers in the area’s now vanished mines and heavy industries. These days “Buckie”, at £6.50 or less a bottle, is more popular with teenagers and, some local politicians think, responsible for a lot of booze-fuelled youth crime.
Buckfast is the drink of choice for Scotland's hooligan teenagers. The Scots drink the equivalent of 25% more pure alcohol annually than the English
The theory gained ground this week when it emerged in a television programme that consumption of Buckfast was mentioned in 5,638 crime reports made by Strathclyde police between 2006 and 2009. In 114 of them, the bottle was used as a weapon.
This seems odd, as Buckfast’s alcohol content is only 15% (whisky’s is generally about 40%). But each bottle also contains as much caffeine as eight cans of Coke. Alcohol and caffeine combined apparently make the imbiber particularly anxious and aggressive. America’s Food and Drug Administration is thinking about forbidding such pre-mixed drinks.
Banning Buckfast has been mooted by Scottish Labour politicians worried about the effects of “loopy juice” or “wreck-the-hoose juice”, as it is known locally. In response to media stories, says Jim Wilson of J Chandler & Co., a distributor and spokesman for the monks, the abbey has banned him from advertising or promoting the drink.
Buckfast Abbey, Devon, where Buckfast is produced
Despite that, sales keep going up—he thinks because it has become excitingly off-limits to teenagers who, for example, view speed consumption of the stuff on YouTube as a badge of honour.
Indeed, Mr Wilson believes Buckfast is being unfairly singled out. Though the crime figures sound frightening, the reports mentioning Buckfast reflect only 0.4% of all reported crime, less than the 0.5-1% share of the drinks market in Strathclyde he reckons Buckfast has. (Of course, not all crime follows drinking.)
This may be why Scottish government ministers were reluctant to single out Buckfast in the debate this week on imposing a minimum alcohol price of about 50p a unit to limit consumption. This would have little effect on the wine but would raise the cost of the cheapest whiskies. The government’s efforts have been thwarted so far by opposition parties. With elections looming, picking a fight with the powerful whisky industry is not top of many political agendas.
economist.com
We all know that Scotland has a drink problem. Annually, they drink much more than their English neighbours. In the 12 months up to September 2009, the Scots bought the equivalent of 25% more pure alcohol per head than the English and the Welsh.
And HALF of all the world's Buckfast that is consumed is consumed in Scotland.
Buckfast is popular with Scottish "neds" - the equivalent of England's "chavs". Neds and chavs are teenagers of working class background, who wear brand names,gold jewellery (females often wear their name in large gold lettering), and engage in hooliganism, petty criminality, loutish behaviour, fighting, underage drinking and smoking or general anti-social behaviour.
Now, to help combat Scotland's out of control alcohol problem, some Scottish politicians are considering banning Buckfast.
Buckfast tonic wine
Bottling it
A row over alcohol targets a distant producer
Jan 21st 2010 | EDINBURGH | From The Economist print edition
Buckfast, a 15% proof tonic wine, may be produced by Benedictine monks in England, but half of what is consumed in the world is consumed by the Scots
SCOTS have a problem with drink, their government reckons. This week it published a study showing that they bought the equivalent of 50.5 million litres of pure alcohol in the 12 months to September 2009, 25% more per head than people in England and Wales did.
Cynics might think that is because they also MAKE a lot of the stuff: 525m litres, on 2008 figures. As drink has a lot to do with crime and poor health, politicians want to do something to stem the flow of it down people’s throats. But it seems a little odd that a particular target of political ire is a Benedictine abbey in Devon, ENGLAND and not Scotland’s big distillers.
The monks have long made a tonic wine named after their abbey, Buckfast. About half of annual sales, worth £37m in all, go to Scotland. Much of it has traditionally been consumed in Lanarkshire, perhaps because local chemists, before licensing restrictions, used to stock it and doctors prescribed it as a pick-me-up for tired workers in the area’s now vanished mines and heavy industries. These days “Buckie”, at £6.50 or less a bottle, is more popular with teenagers and, some local politicians think, responsible for a lot of booze-fuelled youth crime.
Buckfast is the drink of choice for Scotland's hooligan teenagers. The Scots drink the equivalent of 25% more pure alcohol annually than the English
The theory gained ground this week when it emerged in a television programme that consumption of Buckfast was mentioned in 5,638 crime reports made by Strathclyde police between 2006 and 2009. In 114 of them, the bottle was used as a weapon.
This seems odd, as Buckfast’s alcohol content is only 15% (whisky’s is generally about 40%). But each bottle also contains as much caffeine as eight cans of Coke. Alcohol and caffeine combined apparently make the imbiber particularly anxious and aggressive. America’s Food and Drug Administration is thinking about forbidding such pre-mixed drinks.
Banning Buckfast has been mooted by Scottish Labour politicians worried about the effects of “loopy juice” or “wreck-the-hoose juice”, as it is known locally. In response to media stories, says Jim Wilson of J Chandler & Co., a distributor and spokesman for the monks, the abbey has banned him from advertising or promoting the drink.
Buckfast Abbey, Devon, where Buckfast is produced
Despite that, sales keep going up—he thinks because it has become excitingly off-limits to teenagers who, for example, view speed consumption of the stuff on YouTube as a badge of honour.
Indeed, Mr Wilson believes Buckfast is being unfairly singled out. Though the crime figures sound frightening, the reports mentioning Buckfast reflect only 0.4% of all reported crime, less than the 0.5-1% share of the drinks market in Strathclyde he reckons Buckfast has. (Of course, not all crime follows drinking.)
This may be why Scottish government ministers were reluctant to single out Buckfast in the debate this week on imposing a minimum alcohol price of about 50p a unit to limit consumption. This would have little effect on the wine but would raise the cost of the cheapest whiskies. The government’s efforts have been thwarted so far by opposition parties. With elections looming, picking a fight with the powerful whisky industry is not top of many political agendas.
economist.com
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