Bar Buoy Margarita can and a poured Margarita on a wooden bench in the sand dunes

Our story

It started with a Margarita

On 1 January 2020 Tim made a New Year's resolution: make the perfect Margarita. Three months later the world stopped and he suddenly had time on this hands to get it right.

When the beach opened again he packed a flask of it into his rucksack. Friends drank it as the sun went down over Exmouth and asked the same question every time. Why don't you bottle this?

Tim and Ria

Tim has spent 25 years behind and in front of bars around the world, from local pubs to running the bars at the Olympics. He knows that a cocktail is only as good as the moment it is served in, and that most people don't have a bar kit to hand when that moment arrives.

Ria runs everything else. Together they started Bar Buoy on that beach, and they still run it from Exmouth today.

What we make

Every Bar Buoy cocktail is a proper recipe, balanced by Tim and mixed in Devon with spirits and ingredients from producers we know by name. Salcombe Gin, Tors Vodka, Hattiers Rum, Knightor vermouth, Cornish Sea Salt. Everything they need. Nothing they don't.

The cans give you the convenience. The cocktail inside is the same one Tim would shake for you at the bar. Chill it, pour it into a good glass and add a simple garnish, and it is ready.

Meet our suppliers

Awards

The Margarita that started it all won a 3-star Great Taste Award and Taste of the West Gold in 2021. Bar Buoy was named Drink Brand of the Year at the Food Lifestyle Awards 2025, voted for by readers across the South West, and the range has picked up more than 25 awards since 2021.

Read the reviews

We love the sea. So we look after it.

One per cent of every sale goes to protecting the sea, through our membership of 1% for the Planet.

Our sustainability commitments