A little experimentation works wonders - but do not use your cocktail table. Remember one of the great things about stone is that we can usually restore the stone to its original beauty. We know the stones, but we do not know your clients. As you well know, each client's tolerances are different. From our last topic, we know marble and limestone will etch.
Darker stones etch more noticeably.
Some will also be more apt to stain, but we can impregnate the stone to improve performance - the denser stones will still be better. The bottom line is, as much as we love marble and limestone kitchen counters, these surfaces are not for everybody. Many green marbles make good kitchen counters - mainly because they are not true marbles. Our industry takes artistic license here, and deviates from the science of geology by labeling greens as marble because of their marble-like appearance. Pure serpentine is not acid sensitive, therefore there is no etching.