The true Cuban and Brazilian Mahogany is all but impossible to get these days, and rightly so because they've been reduced in numbers almost to the point of being endangered species. Utile (pronounced yoo-till-ee) is one of the main substitutes for Mahogany (it is sometimes called, incorrectly, African Mahogany but there are at least 30 other different types of timber loosely called Mahogany) and it's a good substitute, similar to Mahogany in both colour and grain. It is a West and Central Aftrican wood, usually of a deep red-brown colour but occasionally with a golden brown colour. The Utile trees grow up to 200 feet tall and are common in the highland forests. The interlocking grain causes it to show broad ribbons of colour. It's an easy wood to make tankards from, because the colours and grain patterns are very even throughout the length of every plank, making it easy to match the staves.The colour pleases lots of people, being neither too dark nor too light and it usually has an attractive grain pattern.
