On Monday, February 22, America will celebrate NATIONAL MARGARITA DAY and, in honor of America’s favorite mixed drink, we’d like to share with you some fun factoids about the popular cocktail and its consumption.

Named after a lady named Margarita. The original Margarita was invented in 1948 by socialite Margarita Sames. According to the legend it was during a party at her cliffside hacienda in Acapulco that Margarita began experimenting with â€˜the drinkâ€™. Looking for something to cut the dust of a hot afternoon, she mixed Tequila Herradura, Cointreau and fresh lime juice. Her cocktail kept the party going for two weeks and today the Margarita is the #1 most popular cocktail in the U.S.

Try this Frozen Margarita recipe.

Tops in 2008. The Margarita was the most popularly ordered drink in 2008, representing 18 percent of all mixed drink sales in the U.S., followed by the Martini, Rum and Coke, Vodka and Tonic, and the Cosmopolitan (Cheers On-Premise Handbook 2008)

We must really be thirsty. On average, Americans consume 185,000 Margaritas per hour (Brown-Forman, 2008)

Margarita-Mad Metropolises. Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis and Nashville are among the best major metro cities for the Margarita (Cheers On-Premise Handbook 2008)

Vanilla, Chocolate, or Margarita? The first frozen margarita machine was invented in 1971 and it was based off a soft-serve ice cream machine

We’re Number One! The U.S. is the number one tequila market â€“ larger and more important than Mexico (Cheers On-Premise Handbook 2008)

Data provided by Tequila Herradura, one of the oldest and most respected producers of tequila.