When buying traditional granite countertops, color choices are limited to standard popular choices with a large supply and more or less consistent names.
However, buying granite countertops requires a bit more effort and focus on the details.
Tips on Buying Granite Countertop Slabs
When shopping for granite or any stone it's nearly pointless to look for a specific color by name. You may have found that perfect color / pattern searching granite photos online, but naming is not exact and with over 2500 granite countertop colors a lot of variation exists within any one variety or color.
You may find another stone named say "Alaska White" or "Bianco Antico" or "Gris Conquistador" that looks very similar. Certainly, it will get you started to have a short list of granite color names to begin your search, but in the end, you really just need to go to a stone warehouse and pick out a granite slab that you like regardless of the name.
This is true when buying any type of natural stone. The lemon juice test will identify any stone that is sensitive to acids. Granite does not readily etch and the vast majority of "granite" slabs will pass this test no problem. However, this is a natural product and variations do exist and etching can be a problem with black granite slabs that have been doctored.