> I don't think it's possible to make a martini that doesn't
> get a significant amount of water in it. Alcohol melts
> ice, and shaking ice in alcohol melts a lot of ice.

Okay, it seems that we have a problem with interpretation of the phrase
"very little". As Drinkboy said, 3 ounce cocktail should have
something like 1 ounce of water. That makes it something about 50-proof,
which I prefer. Martini should not be pure hard liquor, but not a glass
of fortified wine either. Well, "very little" was not too descriptive
choice of words...

> Luckily, you want to dilute any 80-proof or stronger
> alcohol so you can taste it.

In cocktails this is often the truth, but not generally. For example,
many whisky connoisseurs prefer undiluted cask strength stuff, which is
usually 100-proof and up. After getting used to it, you can taste it
without any difficulties.