# Buckfast Tonic wine recipe



## louis123 (May 12, 2011)

This is my first post here so ill start with proper greetings to all of you, and a little introduction.
Hello all, iam from montreal, quebec, dont know so much about wine or beer making.
Made a couple of beer kits in the past(festabrew), iam about to bottle my first wine kit (winexpert pinot noir) and done a few experimentations(cider, ice cider, honey mead,a white wine from juice, berry wine,a malt and brown sugar wine locally called bagosse)all home made. I made these not knowing much other then yeast+sugar= alcohol%

With the kits i get to a higher level but they are all things i can go and get from the store. Wich is the reason why i want to make buckfast tonic wine as my next batch. Unless imported (at really high cost) it cannot be found here and i crave it.
Its a wine made by english monks and sold mainly in scotland and ireland.
Its the kind of wine that should have a warning on its label: After drinking this you might get yourself into trouble!
It contains around 15% alcohol and between 37 and 55mg/ 100ml of caffeine!
OOOHYEAH!!! My scottish friend said that after a bottle you have a special glow, almost like an aura around you!!
From my memory (drank that a few times, maybe 4 years ago) its not as sweet as porto but a little sweeter then your average red wine. It doesnt taste coffee like baileys, but you can detect it has something in it.
So heres my plan/recipe so far.
Get a concentrated red wine juice, something basic not so expensive.
Take maybe 10% a side in a clean container and reserver for later.
Instead of adding water to the concentrated juice ill add strong coffee, but not to a full 23L but to a point that ill have final % of alcohol around 15%.
Add some vanilla extract and oak extract.
Pitch in the yeast(standard lalvin ec-1118)
Let it ferment until gravity is near the end. Then add sulfites to kill the yeast and let it be for a day. Rack in the carboy and add the 10% of juices. Let it sit for a week, checking gravity.
Degas. Add something to clarify, let it be.
Bottle and enjoy.
So heres my plan so far, iam looking for advice, ideas, things i should not do....
Is it bad to have less then 23L in the carboy? How can i be sure it wont ferment when i add the juice? Do i have what it takes to be a monk???

Thanks in advance for you help!!

ps: i would have put a link to the wikki page of buckfast but i cant.


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## woodsxdragon (May 12, 2011)

hmm... i dont know about the coffee. i think it would be easier to just crush up caffeine pills and dump them in when back sweetening. wouldn't the coffee leave a bitter after taste? are you looking for short term creation or long term? cause short term i would just go buy a bottle of cheap red and drop caffeine in.


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## louis123 (May 12, 2011)

well iam really hoping to re-create this tonic wine.
and i doubt the monks crush up caffeine pills in their mix.
dont want to spend to much on the first try, in-case of a total flop.
i was thinking the 10% juice would overtrown the after taste.
and from my memory, it wasnt a normal wine, it was almost thick for a wine.
but maybe the monks threw the coffee grinded straight in the mix before the yeast??? no heating it up and less taste?


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## woodsxdragon (May 13, 2011)

"Green bottle" Buckfast tonic wine, usually found in the United Kingdom
Red wine based aperitif, 15% abv.
Sodium glycerophosphate, an emulsifier.
Dipotassium phosphate, a protein stabiliser
Disodium phosphate, a stabiliser and emulsifier.
Caffeine, 37.5 mg/100ml (i.e. 0.0375 % w/v)
Vanillin

"Brown bottle" Buckfast variant, typically from Ireland
Red wine, 14.8% alcohol v/v.
Sodium and potassium glycerophosphates - both measured at 0.65% w/v.
Disodium phosphate, a stabiliser and emulsifer.
Caffeine, 55 mg/100ml (i.e. 0.055% w/v)
Sulfite preservatives.


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## JasonH (May 14, 2011)

This sounds like the stuff that almost just got banned, four loko. Apparently all the caffeine and alcohol together has a poor effect on judgement while attracting underage drinkers. Who would have thought?


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## closetwine (May 14, 2011)

JasonH said:


> This sounds like the stuff that almost just got banned, four loko. Apparently all the caffeine and alcohol together has a poor effect on judgement while attracting underage drinkers. Who would have thought?



They did ban Four Loko around here... Right after I got hooked on it! LOL! The caffine in it didn't really affect me, but I'm a caffine junkie anyways... and contrary to the news reports, everyone (including underage) who drank it was attracted to it because it didn't have much of an alcohol bite or burn. It tastes like a cane sugar pop, like Jones.


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## woodsxdragon (May 14, 2011)

i hated 4loko. most of them tasted horrible. but they did serve the purpose of partying. $2 and it's pretty much like drinking a whole bottle of wine...


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## closetwine (May 14, 2011)

I had the Watermelon and blue Raspberry (< I think). The watermelon was the one I liked. But yeah it was more of a party drink.


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## JasonH (May 15, 2011)

I tried most of the flavors and was dissapointed when they changed the formula to avoid a complete ban. Still, if you had the stuff, you probably understand why the formula change was forced. I could only imagine the trouble I would have gotten myself into if it was available when I was in college.


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## AndyRHamilton (Feb 9, 2015)

Here is my version - http://www.theotherandyhamilton.com/2015/02/06/homemade-buckfast-drinking-1895/


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## ramage007 (Apr 5, 2015)

louis123 said:


> This is my first post here so ill start with proper greetings to all of you, and a little introduction.
> Hello all, iam from montreal, quebec, dont know so much about wine or beer making.
> Made a couple of beer kits in the past(festabrew), iam about to bottle my first wine kit (winexpert pinot noir) and done a few experimentations(cider, ice cider, honey mead,a white wine from juice, berry wine,a malt and brown sugar wine locally called bagosse)all home made. I made these not knowing much other then yeast+sugar= alcohol%
> 
> ...


Hi louis my name is ramage007 , i'm from scotland and drink a lot of buckfast and love it and would love to be able to make it myself so if you would like to keep me informed of your attempts it would be most appreciated yours a buckie lover


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## Arne (Apr 6, 2015)

ramage007 said:


> Hi louis my name is ramage007 , i'm from scotland and drink a lot of buckfast and love it and would love to be able to make it myself so if you would like to keep me informed of your attempts it would be most appreciated yours a buckie lover



This thread is from back in 2011. Not sure you are going to get a reply on it as I havn't seen most of the posters on here for years. Arne.


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