Steam rises from a cup of tea and we are wrapped in history, inhaling ancient times and lands, comfort of ages in our hands. __Faith Greenbowl Tea and history go together like, well, tea leaves and hot water. The 1850's mining town, Columbia, is literally steeped with essences of treasure, adventure and stories. Columbia Kate's spin on the age-old drink tells its own story while offering antiques, specialized gifts and even antique buttons which are notorious story tellers themselves. Seated at tables named after real mining claims of Columbia's heyday, a guest may learn why women of early California had entrepreneurial opportunities like no other state at that time. Over a cup of tea, stories fly thru the air like dimes from the old barn's reputed ghost of a murdered French woman. She is said to have worked in a bakery on the same site before there was a barn. Why she likes dimes, no one knows. Recalling roots earlier than even British tea, Kate's shares tea lore as liberally as the gold miners squandered their gold on water, wagering, whiskey and women. ~ ~ ~ Teahouse Hours Wednesdays thru Sundays 11:00am to 4:00pm Call (209) 532-1885 Columbia Tea $12.00 Small pot of Tea, hot or iced, Scone with jam and cream, Two Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Four Rosemary wafer crackers with egg salad and chicken salad and Tea Bread of the day. Dondero Tea $12.95 Small pot of Tea, hot or iced, Scone with jam and cream, Choice of Quiche with Seasonal Fruit and Tea Bread of the day. Kate’s Tea $14.00 Small pot of Tea, hot or iced, Scone with jam and cream, plus Tea Sandwich Trio, cucumber, egg salad and chicken salad. and a half-salad choice. Tea Sampler $18.95 Small pot of Tea. Hot or iced, Scone with Jam & cream, A Half-salad choice, Two Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Four Rosemary wafer crackers with egg salad and chicken salad, Tea bread and a small sweets item (chosen by us especially for the sampler) The FULL MENU (printable) is available HERE The TEA MENU (printable) is HERE so you can start your list of Tea you'd like to try. "Talk and Tea is our specialty. Come along inside, we'll see if tea and scones can make the world a better place." ___misquoted from The Wind in the Willows Tea is wealth itself, because there is nothing that cannot be lost, no problem that will not disappear, no burden that will not float away, between the first sip and the last.___ The Minister of the Leaves

Set in an 1880's period barn in historic Columbia, CA, our focus is in providing both an education in the Art of Afternoon Tea and enhancing a visitor's experience of Columbia while offering a pleasant atmosphere and a modicum of culture to a gold mining town.

Beautiful Columbia - Main Street looking north from the Wells Fargo Building. Columbia Kate's is just up the street and right on State Street, one block over to Columbia Street.