Hand grenade (drink)

A HAND GRENADE is a strong alcoholic cocktail, known as "New Orleans' Most Powerful Drink," which debuted at the 1984 Louisiana World's Fair, and is currently sold at only four locations in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned or licensed by 721 Bourbon, Inc., also known as "Tropical Isle." The cocktail has a sweet melon taste, is colored light-green, and comes in a plastic half-yard glass shaped like a hand grenade at the bottom, with small plastic grenades inside the container. It is wildly popular in the New Orleans French Quarter, and has been featured in songs by Ludacris and other artists, as well as on television, and in newspapers and magazines with international circulation. The name of the cocktail is registered as a federal trademark, and accordingly, no establishment that is not licensed by Tropical Isle may serve or sell cocktails under the HAND GRENADE designation. The recipe for the cocktail is also a carefully-guarded trade secret, and the liquid base is manufactured commercially to Tropical Isle's specifications, reportedly using both natural and artificial flavors and ingredients. Although no legal protections exist against reverse engineering the cocktail, the drink cannot be made from ingredients available in bars or home kitchens. Alleged recipes for the cocktail have been widely circulated, consisting of various liqueurs and mixers, but, according to the proprietors, none are authentic. Tropical Isle sells its proprietary Hand Grenade mix by mail order and via the Internet, in quart and gallon-sized plastic bottles, which contain all of the necessary ingredients, except alcohol, which must be added by consumers.

Various cocktail-related sites on the Internet include recipes for "home versions" of the of the Hand Grenade cocktail, consisting of mixtures such as the following:

*1 Part Gin
*1 Part Grain Alcohol
*1 Part Melon liqueur
*1 Part Rum
*1 Part Vodka

However, these recipes are reportedly inauthentic, as the Hand Grenade cocktails sold at Tropical Isle's establishments do not contain melon liqueur, rum, gin, or vodka. Instead, they consist of pure grain alcohol mixed with Tropical Isle's secret, proprietary base. A frozen version of the cocktail is also available at Tropical Isle's establishments.

References

* [http://www.tropicalisle.com/shop/oneandonly.html Tropical Isle website]
* [http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60864-i34-k1301597-Tell_me_about_the_drink_the_Hand_Grenade-New_Orleans_Louisiana.html The Hand Grenade: TripAdvisor Forums]