Cinco de Marcho & The Most Popular St. Patrick’s Day Drinks

March 5, 2026 at 1:32 pm · Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Food Facts - Food History, Food Holidays

Guinness Stout
[1] Guinness, a St. Pat’s standard (photo © Erik Jacobson | Unsplash).

[2] Irish whiskey, straight, on the rocks, or cocktails (photo © Slane Irish Whiskey).

Bottle & Glass Of Baileys Chocolate Mint Irish Cream Liqueur
[3] Baileys Irish Cream, the O.G. Irish cream liqueur (Abacus Photo).

Handled Irish Coffee Glass
[4] Irish Coffee in the standard glass mug (photo © Libbey).

A Bottle Of Smithwicks Red Ale
[5] Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale (photo © Smithwick’s).

March 5th is one of those made-up holidays that’s actually fun, as opposed to those that make a lot lesss sense, such as:

Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day (February 18th)

Exotic Winter Fruit & Leeks & Green Onions Month (April)

Fish Fingers & Custard Day (April 3rd)

National Crackers Over the Keyboard Day (August 28th)

National Sinkie Day (Dine Over Your Kitchen Sink Day—the day after Thanksgiving)

National Ice Cream and Violins Day (December 13th)

THE PURPOSE OF CINCO DE MARCHO

A clever play on Cinco de Mayo, its intent is to start a 12‑day “liver training” discipline leading up to the heavy drinking often associated with St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. It was established in 2007.

The founders—the fancifully named Carlos Fantastico and Lady O’ Le, realized on March 5th that year that they’d need to “prepare” for a St. Patrick’s Day with heavy-drinking friends.

They were at a Mexican restaurant at the time, drinking Margaritas at a Mexican restaurant, noticed the coincidence with Cinco de Mayo, and turned it into a recurring joke-holiday that blends Mexican‑style drinks with Irish‑themed drinking culture.

Their thought was that people—especially those who don’t drink much normally—need to “warm up” with Margaritas or drinks of choice starting on March 5th, so they’d be ready for St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

It you’d like to celebrate Cinco de Marcho, today’s the day to start.

Here are 35 Margarita recipes: many more than you need to “warm up.”

To warm up with St. Patrick’s Day drinks, head to the section below.
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Editor’s Note: The Spanish word for March is Marzo, not Marcho. National Margarita Day is February 22nd.

THE MOST POPULAR ST. PATRICK’S DAY DRINKS

At bars you’ll find green beers (lager + a few drops of green coloring, green vodka lemonades, “Lucky” green Margaritas, Shamrock and Grasshoper-type cocktails, (minty green, often crème de menthe + cream).

If you want to host a St. Patrick’s Day cocktail party, here’s where to start.

Irish Beer

Boilermaker (Guinness + Irish cream + Irish whiskey—a.k.a. Irish Car Bomb)

Black and Tan-style layered beers, also called “Half-and-Half” (often Guinness + a pale ale/lager

Guinness

Irish Stout

Irish Red Ale

Plus:

Hard Cider

Irish Whiskey

Hot Toddy (whiskey, lemon, honey, hot water)

Irish Coffee (hot coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar, cream)