Wild Turkeys Can Fly

Around the corner from the city's oldest bar, La Carafe, sits the city's second-oldest building, constructed around 1820. The first thing you notice about the Twelve Spot (218 Travis, 713-222-1962) is how far up the brick walls go before they finally connect with the roof. To get an idea of what a 42-foot ceiling looks like, imagine a three-story department store (the building's purpose in a previous life) with two of the floors missing. My first visit to the Twelve Spot turned up nothing more than an impressively chilled manhattan. On a return visit, however, a bartender set me up with a drink he called the Bourbon Challenger, a fancy name for Wild Turkey with a splash of orange juice and Rose's Lime. The original drink, he said, consisted of three different shots of bourbon, which apparently hiked up the price so high that he quit making them. Frankly, the Wild Turkey was enough for me. I had barely met the bourbon challenge when owner Larry Wilsford offered to give me a tour of the place. There's 200-year-old wood around the bar, handcrafted metalwork on the railings, a lofty upstairs bar, imaginative sculptures and surprise alcoves. But the real appeal of this historical bar is the enormous headroom. Wild turkeys can fly, you know.

The Twelve Spot's Bourbon Challenger:

1 3/4 ounces Wild Turkey
1/4 ounce Rose's Lime Juice
Splash of orange juice

Fill a highball glass with ice and bourbon. Add both juices and mix well in a martini shaker. Pour back into the highball glass and garnish with lime.