The drink that Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev once called "America's lethal weapon" is easily the most written about cocktail in history. The "lethal" aspect of the martini is what most Americans know to be the large proportion of gin, or vodka, to a minute flavoring of vermouth. The less one uses of the aromatic dry wine, which takes its name from the German word for "wormwood," the better; this becomes a mark of the martini's degree of "dryness." The martini is to be served ice-cold, which only makes successive ones go down with relative ease. The martini owes its staying power to two contradictory elements: first, to its ability to reinvent itself; and second, to the martini drinker's fervent exactitude concerning the drink's preparation. This demonstrated meticulousness has produced a whole culture (or cult) around the drink: the martini is accompanied by its own particular codes, accessories, and...