A hand grenade is a strong alcoholic cocktail

Cocktail

A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...

 drink

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

. It was first made at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition

1984 Louisiana World Exposition

The 1984 Louisiana World Exposition was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was held 100 years after the city's earlier World's Fair, the World Cotton Centennial in 1884. It opened on Saturday, May 12, 1984 and ended on Sunday, November 11, 1984...

. It is sold at four locations in the French Quarter

French Quarter

The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...

 in New Orleans and through mail order and the Internet. The recipe, trademark, and licenses of the product are owned by 721 Bourborn, Inc. The "hand grenade" recipe is proprietary and is maintained as a trade secret.

The rapper Ludacris

Ludacris

Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...

 mentions drinking hand grenades in a song from his The Red Light District

The Red Light District

The Red Light District is the fourth studio album from Def Jam recording artist Ludacris. The album was released on December 7, 2004 and was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart with 322,000 copies sold in its first week...

album called "Pimpin' All Over the World": "...and at night I'm in New Orleans drinkin' Hand Grenades."

Hand grenades are commonly associated with Mardi Gras and are consumed in great quantity in New Orleans during that time.