Mendikotea : from Japan to Basque Country, a story of opportuni-tea

It all started with a trip to Japan for Mylène Dupuis. Fascinated by tea plantations under the snow, she recognised in these landscapes an unsettling familiarity with those of her valley in the Basque Country. Upon her return, she turned her attention to Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, and discovered that the acidic soil of her mountain land favoured it. The place ticked all the boxes: “I said to myself, why not give it a try?” This is how Mendikotea took root, an innovative project in the verdant, tradition-laden corners of the Soule province in the Basque Country. Mylène, the founder, reinvented her life by becoming a tea grower, following an atypical career path straddling teaching and crafts. Her story, far from the carefully mapped out career path, is one of opportunity and passion. “I never dreamed I’d become a tea grower, but life brought me here,” she confides. Today, she is one of the leading lights in the French supply chain for tea.

An exceptional tea
The adventure began modestly during lockdown, with the planting of the first 500 shrubs. With patience and a watchful eye, Mylène experimented with different varieties, advised by French pioneers such as Denis Mastrullo, who accompanied her in her early days. The results are promising: the varieties planted adapt well, and today Mendikotea has over 4,000 tea plants in the Basque heights.

Mylène’s mission goes beyond production. Her aim is to produce exceptional tea, grown with the utmost respect for the earth. No chemical inputs, natural mulching using local ferns and watering that depends entirely on rainfall: this ecological approach is at the heart of her project. At the same time, she has joined the Euskal Herriko Laborantza Ganbara farmers’ group, which advocates for local, sustainable agriculture.

The real challenge, Mylène discovers, is in the processing of the tea, a method as precise as that for wine. “Processing is the clincher. Without it, even the most beautiful leaves won’t yield anything good,” she explains. To perfect her technique, she travels to Japan, where she learns how to produce steamed green tea, which preserves the umami taste characteristic of Japanese teas. However, she knows that the Basque terroir will produce a tea with a unique character, a subtle blend of Japanese influences and local identity.
To set itself apart, Mendikotea will offer mainly black tea, a choice she is further refining by experimenting with infusions of flowers harvested in autumn. “Spring tea is always the richest, but autumn flowers bring a new dimension,” she notes. Mylène hopes to appeal to enlightened connoisseurs in search of rare, authentic flavours. As far as marketing is concerned, Mendikotea will remain a project on a human scale. The 4,000 plants will produce at most 80 kilos of dried tea leaves each year, which Mylène hopes to sell locally. To this day, she juggles her tea plantation with her job as an electrician. But with the “Reconversion” prize from Futur(e)s Food, she hopes to finally see Mendikotea “blossom” and flourish as a business in its own right. Such recognition could be just the boost needed to attract the attention of a public attuned to authenticity and commitment. “This award is the perfect opportunity to be able, one day, to devote myself fully to this plantation, which is so close to my heart.”

By Alice Polack et Jean-Pierre Montanay