I did a semester in Ireland back in the 90's and it was an occasional purchase by myself and other college students. Basically along the lines of how we'd get 40oz malt liquor in the states (or later on, those alcopops with caffeine like Sparks).

They don't taste good but they're cheap and strong so they were popular with college kids looking to hang out and get buzzed with friends. Even then we sort of did it with a wink and a grin, knowing that we were drinking some pretty "trashy" stuff.

"Buckfast gets you fucked fast!" was the common joke.

Can anyone compare / contrast Bucky with FourLoko from the US? This was also an energy drink that was forced to reformulate and pay some fines for being too crazy.

I recall people hoarding “original formula” watermelon fourloko when it started disappearing from shelves.

Edit: a decent overview of the “banned” four loko vs reformulates version: https://youtu.be/XUPXFzag258

Buckfast was, and still remains a very potent drink. It’s a very cheap way of doing rather idiotic things and reaching a level of caffeine and alcohol mix that lends itself to university parties or clubbing. However it tastes absolutely awful past the first sip or two, with a flavour resembling cough syrup.

Fourloko seems to have a similar reputations with my friends from universities across the pond, but is a fair bit less alcoholic, and served in large beer can quantities rather than 750ml wine bottles. If you down a bottle of Bucky you’re having a night you probably won’t remember.