Where: Duluth, Georgia Style: Southern home Tea Selection: Teabag assortment Teatimes: Annual Holiday Tea, Select December Dates Reservations: Reservations required Contact: 770-476-2202 Cost: $25 Holiday Tea Destination Tea Tips: Leave time to stroll through the shops nearby on Main Street in downtown historic Duluth. In the art gallery, we get a hot tip: the regular lunch and brunch service at The Cottage is delicious.
Destination Tea Notes: For we afternoon tea goers, the holidays are a very special time. Every winter, at home and in afternoon tea venues across the country, surrounded by beautiful holiday decorations, we take tea together, at tables set with Christmas china, overflowing with teas and treats in Christmastime flavors. This Christmas, many of us are staying in to stay safe, preparing our own holiday tea menus to serve at home or package as gifts, while in Metro Atlanta, we are also fortunate to have the choice to attend a festive tea, served with Covid precautions in place (socially-distanced tables, masks required). The Cottage on Main offers an affordable holiday tea, set to a very special soundtrack: Christmas records played on antique Victor phonographs.
The staff here is accommodating and solicitous, while also allowing guests to have a proper chat.
Our front row seats to the main attraction
The perfect sounds for a Christmas Tea: Christmas songs of old on hand-wound phonographs
Tea Selection
The sight of this beautiful teapot collection builds anticipation for a lovely teatime. Which is your favorite?
Twining, Bigelow and Spot teabags displayed, each guest chooses her own
Scones & Spreads, Savories and Sweets
The tea menu opens with warm raisin scones with toasty exterior and soft crumb, more buttery than any scone we’ve tasted, all the same, delicious.
Preserves (currant, we guess?), lemon curd and marmalade butter (yum!) provided for spreading on our scones. The servers are happy to refresh our teapot of hot water so we can properly steep our second and third cups of tea.
A tiered tray with generous array of savories and tea sandwiches follows the scone course, including: Spinach Dip Phyllo Baskets, Caprese Kabobs, Egg Salad Crostini with Avocado, Chicken Salad Croissants and Baked Ham Biscuits with Cranberry Sauce.
We most enjoy the chocolate mousse cups on the dessert tray, which offers 7 sweets per guest, including an apple-raisin pastry, iced creme puff, mini fruit pie, chocolates and Pirouette Wafers. Though this course is plentiful, we would actually prefer just a few small homemade treats that make the indulgence worthwhile. Also, given the time taken to assemble and serve an elaborate holiday tea, we recommend a quick presentation of the items on the tiered trays upon delivery, or printed menus at each table to help guests identify the menu’s goodies.
We love comments! Destination Tea's comment policy shares a guiding principle with afternoon tea etiquette: please be gracious. We welcome honest comments that are not rude or scathing.
I’m glad you were able to attend this lovely Christmas tea!
Thank you Joy! It was a true treat to be able to celebrate the holiday this way.