I have Verde Butterfly with white cabinets. I think it is very similar to Uba Tuba and I think with your cabinet color, Uba Tuba would look very good.

There's no doubt these two stones are similar, and both are beautiful.

However, a couple things: when you say the cost for the Uba Tuba is roughly half the cost of the V.B., are you talking materials, only? I'm assuming the fabrication costs are going to be the same for either one, and the cost of fabrication is really where the bulk of the cost for granite is. Check into that and make sure you would be saving the amount of $ you think you are by going with Uba Tuba.

I also recommend that you check the actual Uba Tuba slabs your "floor guru" has before committing to anything. I found that even V.B. could vary a lot from slab to slab. Uba Tuba has neither the whites nor the garnets of V.B., but more gold, and tends to read less green, and more black, than V.B. I think both are complimentary to what you describe as a cider stain on your cabs. But make sure you check the specific slabs against a sample cabinet door to make sure they are as nice as you would hope for.

My Uba Tuba is really greenish blue with plenty of gold veining running through it. But a friend's Uba Tuba looks more dark green with less gold in it, and almost looks black from a distance. So I agree that you should look at the actual slabs because they can vary so much and you want to be sure to get something you really like.

Even with a popular granite like Uba Tuba, there's a lot a variation, and sometimes you have to go to a few granite yards to find one you like. Some have lots more green, some more gold, some much darker with lots of black. I think the VB is somewhat more consistant, but there's still variation and you need to find the one that appeals to you.

As for the 2 slabs matching each other, Most granite yards have granite in "lots" and all of the granite guys, and my KD, have said that two slabs in the same lot, physically next to or near each other will be extremely similar. The way they explained it to me is that chunks of stone are sliced up - sort of like a bread slicer - to create the slabs. Since the slabs are so heavy, they get very, very little, if any, shuffling around once they're cut.

Of course, you'll want to confirm this, and be sure that you're getting slabs from the same lot.

Interesting - We just selected a couple of slabs of Verde Butterfly. Our fabricator had the total cost (Uba Tuba or Butterfy) at the same price.........

Uba Tuba (depending on slab) can run pretty gold and is one of the reasons we selected Butterfly (also have stainless / nickel finishes).

Both are very nice "base level" granites.

Make sure you look at the slabs, as there are differences - sometimes even within the same lot.

I have Ubatuba & it has a lot of gold running through it. Some slabs do not have as much gold, I guess it just depends on what you like. My cabinets are caramel maple, which sounds similar to your cider maple. I have all stainless/nikel appliances, fixtures and pulls & it looks fine.

Look thru the finished kitchens blog and see the number of uba tub and butterfly granites. There are all shades and finishes of cabinets with both. It will help you to see the granites in many finished kitchens and give you a general idea of what each looks like with various appliances colors too. G

We were in a tile shop today, and they had a granite counter which I thought was Verde Butterfly because of its bluish-green coloring. Apparently it was Uba Tuba (had gold in it), but it was the greenest Uba Tuba I've seen.

If you and your DH truly love the granite you've chosen, and can find a way to make it work for you (e.g. cutting costs elsewhere) that would be great. If not though, maybe you could look for Uba Tuba that has more of the tones that you love in the VB and save the money there. If you can find slabs in a similar shade of green (to the VB that you like) it will give you a very similar look at less cost and from what I've heard, Uba Tuba is a really durable stone to boot. Good luck!

Thanks everyone.

I spent some time last night looking at the finished kitchens blog. In the pictures, I liked both the Uba Tuba and Verde Butterfly.

We got the "firm" numbers for our kitchen yesterday, so we're now looking to cut costs. I need to call floor dude. He's the one who has the supply of Uba Tuba. He privately imported a rather signficant amount of it last year. So, I need to get numbers from him, and then see when we can look at it. I'm pretty willing to do whatever DH wants here. My preference ran more to the brown granites, but DH seems to love the darker granites. Since he's letting me make the call in most other areas (with the exception of the layout!!), I'll defer to him on this. Compromise.

Our GC is also going to take the floors out of the bid and let us purchase them and install them on our own. That will save a significant amount as well. We'll also paint. We had chosen a backsplash, but now I'm questioning it. I'm going to really try to hold off as long as I can. I'd really like to see what the kitchen looks like with the cabs in first.

Thanks for your opinions!

I am looking at these two granites for my log cabin kitchen. What did you finally decide and did it work? My cabinets will be a rustic alder with black appliances.