Nigel wrote:
On Apr 16, 6:50 am, valhealey wrote:
To get back to the original article. Black (and pekoe) teas
are drunk with milk in
places like the UK, Ireland, etc because it has been known
that these teas have
tannens - tannic acids - that have been used for converting
animal skins into
leather. I have made many inquiries about alternatives to
the use of small amounts
milk in those teas to neutralize the tannens and found none.
If you want a leather
pouch instead of a stomach, drink these black teas without
milk and your arteries
will improve.

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

I do believe you're mistaken, Nigel. Tannic acid, according to Merck
Index 13, is simply a synonym for tannins in general, "the chemistry of
[which] is most complex and non-uniform. Tannins may be divided into 2
groups: (a) derivatives of flavanols, so-called condensed tannins and
(b) hydrolyzable tannins (the more important group) which are esters of
a sugar, usually glucose, with one or more trihydroxybenzenecarboxylic
acids."

Unlike most acids, "tannic acid" doesn't refer to any specific
molecular compound, but is the name of commercial product used, among
other things, for tanning leather.

If you go to the Wikipedia article, you'll find a link to a paper
which refers to tea as a rich source of tannic acid.

--
Marshall Price of Miami
Known to Yahoo as d021317c