I am building a cedar "tabletop" cover for my firepit. I will be putting a finish on it as I want it to be a specific color and have a fairly consistent appearance as long as possible. I know cedar has a reddish look, and will weather to a gray. I don't want to wait for weathering, so I am looking at possible stains to use. I will finish with Helmsman satin, over the stain.

I noticed Varathane water-based stain at Home Depot - they had a couple of "grayish" colors that I think would be acceptable.

https://www.varathanemasters.com/en/products/water-based-stain

Given than I will be finishing with Helmsman, do you think it would be a decent stain to use? I am leaning towards it as I really prefer the water-based finishes.