The brunches are relatively new to New Zealand but have been bubbling along happily in cities such as London and New York.
A video circulating on social media of people knocking back mimosas at one Wellington establishment was enough for the council to say, well, enough. For the record, mimosas typically have an alcohol content of about 10 per cent - not quite the 80+ percentages of premium vodkas or even the 89 per cent absinthe which scandalised Europe at the beginning of the last century.
With a main ingredient of Champagne, these people were effectively doing exactly what Emirates Team New Zealand was doing on a podium before a large crowd of cheering people on Wednesday afternoon.
It's not as if the past year has been one long bottomless brunchfest. Covid clampdowns have hit the hospitality sector particularly hard and patrons have been denied almost a full year of celebrating birthdays and other joyous milestones.
Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said officials had come to an agreement with these dens of iniquity for patrons to get three or four drink tokens over a set time, "rather than people drinking so much they're walking sideways down the street at two o'clock in the afternoon".
If people have the money and the time to spend an afternoon drinking themselves into a silly old giggle then good for them. The wowsers should stick to their knitting, or whatever it is that floats their boats, and leave the merriment be.
We know which group we'd rather join. Bottoms up.
