The best stylish drinks trolley is one item of garden furniture everyone will be happy to see you wheeling out of the back door. If you don't have the space or budget for a garden shed bar, a trusty drinks trolley is the next best thing.
Portable, compact, and trendy, a garden bar cart will help create a party-perfect atmosphere for hosting and entertaining friends, as well as keeping you lubricated as you're chillaxing on your favourite sun lounger. Trolleys come in many different designs, but all essentially offer a wheeled base and space for plenty of bottles, glasses, and cocktail accoutrements.
Best drinks trolleys at a glance:
• Best weatherproof drinks trolley: Dorel Novogratz Barbie Bar Cart - View on Robert Dyas
• Best folding drinks trolley: Cosco Folding Serving Cart - View on Amazon UK
• Best compact drinks trolley: Rive Droite Round Drinks Trolley - View on Garden Trading
We've picked out the best garden drinks trolleys currently available that will help make you the host or hostess with the most-est - and have included some cheeky cocktail drink recipes to get you started on your outdoor imbibement.
The best drinks trolleys for your garden
Best weatherproof drinks trolley
Dorel/Robert Dyaswww.robertdyas.co.uk
With two black glass shelves and two large wheels this Novogratz Barbie Bar Cart will serve up your fave tipple with style wherever you are in your garden. There's a handy bottle rack on the lower shelf to avoid spills while you're in motion. Made from powder coated steel, this Dorel trolley is durable and rust-resistant.
Pros
- Weatherproof
- Integrated bottle rack
Cons
- Larger footprint than some
Best folding drinks trolley
Cosco/AmazonThis lightweight drinks trolley has a minimalist design with two grooved shelves offering plenty of space for a plethora of bottles. This has four wheels, two of which have locking castors. This alloy steel serving cart has a space-saving selling point - it folds practically flat when not in use.
Customer review: "Great little trolley! Very convenient, easy to fold/unfold and store and looks good too."
Pros
- Folds for storage
- Two locking wheels
Cons
- Only available in ruby red
Best wooden drinks trolley
Norfolk Leisure/Primrose www.primrose.co.uk
This unfussy drinks trolley from Norfolk Leisure offers pale beige eucalyptus wood shelves combined with a a sturdy grey frame. There is a raised handle and two large wheels to help you manoeuvre in style. This offers a rack on the bottle shelf that can accommodate three bottles.
Pros
- Bottle rack
- Made of wood
Cons
- Made to order
Best contemporary drinks trolley
Swoon/Verywww.very.co.uk
We're drunk in love with this neat Swoon Aero Bar Trolley. It has no-nonsense, minimalist looks with clean lines and a tall, elegant design. This is made from power-coated steel so will offer you stability and durability for years to come. There's no integrated bottle rack but both shelves have guard rails.
Customer review: "It arrived very quickly. It was well packed and in perfect condition. Great bargain price for the trolley."
Pros
- Powder-coated steel
- Four wheels
Cons
- No bottle rack
Best Scandi-style drinks trolley
Habitat/eBaywww.ebay.co.uk
A handwoven, rattan curtain encloses the sides of this Habitat Nordic Spring Trolley making for an eye-catching design that's sure to be a talking point whenever you wheel it out. This offers a handy wine glass rail under the top shelf. This trolley has four wheels, two of which are lockable.
Pros
- Designer looks
- Integrated glass rail
Cons
- Only available in grey
Best lightweight drinks trolley
Alexander Francis www.alexander-francis.co.uk
When it's time to celebrate with gin and tonics all around, let this Alexander Francis outdoor drinks trolley do the legwork for you. It has a lightweight aluminium frame so is easy to handle. The frame is powder-coated to make it weather-resistant.
Pros
- Lightweight
- All-weather finish
Cons
- Assembly required
Best compact drinks trolley
Rive Droite/Garden Trading www.gardentrading.co.uk
Keep the refreshments flowing with this powder-coated steel trolley from Rive Droite. This is a compact choice perfect for smaller patios and decks - or even balconies. This has two shelves for all your beverage-related essentials with guard rails to keep them safe. This has four wheels for that essential portability.
Pros
- Forest green finish
- Circular design
Cons
- Only 7 kilogram capacity per shelf
How we chose the best garden drinks trolleys
All of these garden drinks trolleys have been hand-selected by our team of Modern Gardens shopping experts. We carefully considered the materials, size, and portability in our selection of the best. Our team has spent hours investigating and researching garden drinks trolleys to make it easier for you to find the very best, and we'd never recommend a product we don't believe in.
Where possible, we also test and share the latest and best products you should know about. And with help from Modern Gardens Magazine, Garden News and Garden Answers, we share expert gardening knowledge to help you get the most from your product.
Garden-themed drink recipes
You've got the garden drinks trolley, now you need some scrummy drink recipes to serve friends and family on your patio and show off your skills. If you happen to have a flourishing garden, you might even find a few of these ingredients growing right under your nose.
Sunshine lemonade
Ingredients (serves 4)
✽ 3 lemons, zest and juice
✽ 75g caster sugar
✽ 450ml boiling water
✽ 300ml chilled still or sparkling water
✽ Ice and lemon slices, to serve
What to do
1. Add the zest to a food processor along with the sugar and blitz well.
2. Empty the lemon-sugar mixture into a bowl and add the lemon juice and 450ml of boiling water. Stir to dissolve.
3. Once cooled, strain the mixture into a large jug. Top up the jug with the still or sparkling water and serve with ice and a slice of lemon.
Shooting Star-tini
Ingredients (serves 1)
✽ 4 ice cubes
✽ 60ml good quality vodka
✽ 20ml blue curaçao
✽ 85ml ice-cold pineapple juice
✽ Slice carambola (star fruit)/lemon-dipped apple
What to do
1. Put the ice cubes in a shaker and shake until they break. Add the vodka and blue curaçao to the shaker.
2. Pour the pineapple juice into a glass.
3. Sieve the vodka/blue curacao into the glass.
4. Garnish with a slice of carambola or a slice of apple, cut into a star shape with a cookie cutter, and dipped into lemon juice to prevent the fruit from turning brown.
Get-the-party-started raspberry liqueur
Ingredients (makes 1.5L)
✽ 375g raspberries
✽ 175g caster sugar
✽ 1L gin or vodka
What to do
1. Sterilise a 1.5L jar or preserving bottle by washing it in hot, soapy water. Rinse then place it in an oven at 140°C and allow it to dry completely.
2. Add the raspberries and caster sugar to the jar then add the gin or vodka. Seal the jar then invert a few times until the sugar dissolves.
3. Store the jar in a cool, dark place, turn every day for one week then leave for three weeks without turning.
4. Strain the mixture through a sieve and decant into a large bottle. It will last for up to a year although it may lose some of its vivid pink colour after a couple of months. Store in a cool, dark place.
5. Serve over ice with fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint. For a longer drink, top up with tonic or sparkling water, or lemonade.
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Angie Kenny is production editor of Modern Gardens magazine at Bauer Media, and when she hasn't got her nose in all the lovely proofs that come her way, her fave place to spend her time is in her garden with husband Alan and their three cats Rupert, Darcy and Frankie.