Yes a gel stain will work or also are you getting a premade color or a custom color,you can only get a very dark stain by getting it customed colored to your liking.

I've actually had quite a bit of luck with Minwax water based stain in black.
What I've found work the best for me is to stain it once - wipe it off and let it dry, and then go over the surface again, this time with a foam pad and using quite alot of stain. Go over the area again with a clean foam brush to remove the excess in long stokes, and some of the color of the wood will emerge (looks quite nice).
Please note the above post about my polyurethane disaster. You don't want this to happen.

I would go with an oil based gel stain as from what I have seen the water based stains look to much like paint.

i have descoverd that water- based stains dry so fast that they dont penatrate as much and tend to look more splotchy. you cant get bright colors in oil so if you want a bright color use a latex pre stain to help with a uniform coat. the best jeld stain i have used was made by wood kote. jeld stain is less messy. i am not a fan of minwax but i dont want to bash products if it works for you and you like good for you.