My Petty Gripe: I Don’t Begrudge​ Your‍ Coffee Addiction, But Do You Have to​ Be Such a ⁤Bore About ‌It?

The music’s not quite loud enough, or bassy enough, to ⁢lose myself⁢ – but, by about 10.30am, I think I might be⁤ dancing. People near me are drinking iced matcha lattes, which I’ll never condone,⁣ but as⁢ the DJ drops a relative banger, I admit to my colleague, who is photographing this road test, that I’m having quite ⁤an uplifting start to my weekend.The day is still‌ young and there’s​ an afterparty at ​a pub nearby and yet another planned for the afternoon.

Before I leave (it’s approaching 11am ⁤after all) I turn to⁤ talk to a man who is watching on from close to⁣ the DJ area. Liam,25,is almost-but-not-quite dancing,and it turns out he works for Red Bull events. He’s here professionally: might Maple’s coffee raves be worth ‍bringing into the energy drink’s gargantuan sponsorship embrace?

“We⁣ see just as much relevance for Red Bull in an occasion like‍ this [as] a music festival or the F1,” he says with no small amount of enthusiasm.

Stepping around some spilt milk, it strikes me there is no alcohol-edged ⁤aggro, argy bargy at the bar or intimidating bouncers. ⁣Just ⁢music and broad daylight – plus caffeine, in hot, cold and increasingly corporatised modes.

This is 2025, not the late-1990s. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/The Guardian