In the Pyrenees, a refined organic tea seduces the chiefs

Like every day, while waiting for the rain, Lucas Ben Moura weed on the row and straw in hand to pamper his varieties of Camellia sinensis . Who could suspect that at an altitude of 550 m, on the heights of Argelès-Gazost (Hautes-Pyrénées), more than 5,000 teaaries are pushing in a protected wind valley?

With his numerous tea experiments in Asia as an agronomist engineer, Lucas created, at 23, with his mother Sybil, the exploitation of the Arieulate. He gradually planted Korea and Brittany tea trees, then Italy and Nepal, and finally China. “We had to try. I am inspired by the approach of Denis Mazerolle, of Fairies, in Brittany. »»

On a plot, he even produces his own sowing, rustic and robust. A neighboring nurseryman now sells thanks to the seeds of his tea trees. “Here, the asset of tea is that, from April to October, we can spread the harvest of the pounds of leaves. It is a plant that likes humidity. The perfect days are those of burnt and fog. ”

Lucas is the only one to produce high quality white tea in the Pyrenees. For this, tea farmer achieves imperial picking, that is to say the finest. “We take the best: a sheet and a bud. The latter must be tender and shiny, like silk between the fingers. You have to see Lucas, your eye on the lookout, the flexible and precise gesture, in a harvest worthy of a Grand Cru. “I let the leaves dry on large luggish in chestnut for a week in the attic. While waiting for the opening of his dryer barn and reception, in April 2026.

For connoisseurs

His harvest is currently 10 kg of white tea and 35 kg of yellow tea. The white sachet costs 18 euros for 12 g, yellow 2 euros for 35 g. “I have just shown palace employees of teas the production stages. Tomorrow, the sommelier of the restaurant of Anne-Sophie Pic comes for a tasting. Then I will send new sachets in Datil, the star restaurant from Manon Fleury in Paris. Little by little, this exceptional tea is essential in gastronomic circuits and arouses the attention of connoisseurs.

When his plantation was born in 2020, by a funny coincidence, there were six of them to get started simultaneously, without knowing each other, in the tea adventure, all in agroecology, sure that the climate of the Pyrenees would be well suited. Local conditions-average altitude, frequent mists, acidic soils-recall those of Darjeeling, at the foot of the Himalayas, where we cultivate the famous “champagne des tes”, a world bestseller synonymous with finesse and refinement. It was this local proximity that gave birth to the idea of ​​a real French sector.

Knowledge to share

Lucas brought together new planters into a group: Euskal Tea. They meet three times a year to discuss the best suited techniques and plants. “The strength of our team is the exchange,” says Jean-Philippe Landrieu, who pushes 2,800 tea trees above Guéthary, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and creates, under the Tea Basoa brand, an Earl Gray at the Bergamot bark to offer a rounder taste.

In the Basque Country, his neighbor Marianne Dayon, who came from San Francisco, planted 12,000 tea trees, and already distributes her teas under the brand The conference of teas. In Utaritz, Mikel Tlaamadon produces green and black teas from Ilgora, sold to Paris and Bordeaux.

Above, in Sainte-Engrace, Mylène Dupuy-Althabegoity cultivates a Japanese green tea baptized Mendikotea. Finally, in Roussillon, in Saint-Cyprien, Acapella plantations already has 33,000 feet in greenhouse.

All underline the same challenge: workforce. “Picking a kilo of leaves requires ten hours of work,” warns Jean-Philippe Landrieu. Although our projects are risky, the group has remained enthusiastic! »»

Despite these constraints, experimentation is a success. In a few years, the sector has been structured and already attracted attention. And tomorrow, perhaps, we will taste a smoking tea by imagining the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees, as we travel with mythical teas around the world …