You know what’s better than rolling out of bed at 11am on to a fluffy pillow of pancakes? Doing so with a martini glass in hand – because nothing says welcome to the weekend like a completely unnecessary drink.
Boozing before noon is a kind of two fingers to adult responsibility and, in the spirit of the modern age, where grown men and women hunt Pokémon and stay up all night reading Harry Potter, it is increasingly socially acceptable. Once upon a time, only grimy pubs catering to those coming off the night shift served alcohol while most of us were still putting the kettle on for a cuppa. But, with the unstoppable rise of brunch, you can now go to a fancy restaurant, drink as much as you like over breakfast, and even post a picture of yourself doing so online without shame.
When brunch first arrived in Britain, it was a novelty just to be able to order a fry-up after 10am – but it was never going to be long before we wanted in on the mimosa action we saw Carrie, Samantha et al enjoying on the small screen. “Bottomless brunches”, including all the booze you can drink, have long been de rigueur in the US, where waffles and a couple of cocktails have become a Mother’s Day tradition. But in the UK, where “a couple” is not a recognised serving of alcohol, we’ve not only embraced the idea, but made it our own.
Scotland’s licensing laws prohibit such “irresponsible promotions”, but in England you can get brunch with unlimited amounts of “fizz” for £20 at Brace & Browns in Bristol; two courses plus prosecco, bloody marys and mimosas at Panam in Liverpool for £35; and unlimited amounts of just about anything you like, from cider to house red, for £30 at the ominously named “Prosexy bottomless brunch” in Newport. London offers the discerning morning boozer everything from Korean-spiced bloody marys to Peruvian bellinis made with Andean purple corn.
There has always been something self-consciously decadent about brunch. The first person to coin the term, Guy Beringer, writing in 1895, claimed that “by eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday”, brunch makes “life brighter for Saturday-night carousers” – but concern is growing that its popularity is encouraging overindulgence. Tom Smith, the director of campaigns at Alcohol Concern, says: “Trends such as bottomless brunches mean it’s harder for people to keep track of what they’re consuming, especially when starting to drink earlier in the day.
“Government guidelines advise that both men and women shouldn’t consume more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day,” he adds – that’s two smallish glasses of prosecco. A reasonable amount at breakfast time, certainly, but hardly bottomless.
The other problem is, of course, that the old adage about drinking on an empty stomach is true – it really does get you drunk faster, which is hardly ideal unless you’ve got nothing to do for the rest of the day but go back to bed. The solution? Eat more pancakes. Which is advice I think we can all get behind.
