RuF wrote:
... Tea has NO tannic acid. Tea, not even the strong black Irish
Breakfast blend so beloved of trotting mice, will NOT tan leather,
Nigel at Teacraft

Since you are in the business, I question your statement.
Strichnyne is not poison because I sell it. :-)

Isn't cross-posting like this considered dubious netiquette?
However, I join the thread in both venues to put another vote of support
behind the Teacrafter.

As Lew, Rick and Scott point out, "tannin" is a pretty vague descriptor
with an etymology that long pre-dates anything like modern chemical
terminology. (An alembic of alkahest, anyone?) Where names like the
mouthful abbreviated in EGCG specify a precise molecular structure, many
(mostly so-called "trivial") names in common use specify nothing more
than similarity in only one or two properties out of dozens discernible.
Grease, for example, may derive from animal, vegetable or mineral or
combinations thereof; may commonly be a single phase of hydrocarbon, a
single or mixed monoester, triglyceride, cholesterol derivative or many
others; an aqueous emulsion; or a soap; all with or without additional
solid fillers like graphite or molybdenum disulfide, etc. etc. "All
grease is good for cooking"??

The problem is that, as in most disciplines, almost anyone can learn to
spell/pronounce the jargon and even use it with reasonable syntactic
precision without any real concept of underlying meaning. Nigel's a
seasoned professional *in this field*, as his diverse archived posts
make clear, and can be presumed to know what he's talking about. (I also
consider his probity to be beyond question, even though he's never sent
*me* any free samples.)

BTW, anent spelling, it's "strychnine" - from strychnos, one of
nightshades, a motley family indeed. Talk about bitter - makes caffeine
taste like honey.

-DM
(formerly in the business of designing, manufacturing and selling some
dandy poisons)