We at Chuao Chocolatier are passionate about chocolate. We are always willing to share our knowledge of fine chocolate with our customers. Please email us if you have a question for which an answer is not provided below. As well, if you have any comments, we are always interested in hearing about others who share our passion.
What is Chuao?
Pronounced Choo-WOW, the Chuao region of Venezuela produces the highest quality cacao grown anywhere in the world. Chuao Chocolatier is named for the region to reflect our mission: to produce the highest quality premium chocolate using only Venezuelan chocolate varieties, European chocolate making techniques, and all natural ingredients. For more about our company, see About Chuao Chocolatier
Why Venezuelan chocolate
Of all the cacao producing regions of the world, Venezuela produces the highest quality cacao. The premium chocolate of the world is thus made with Venezuelan sourced chocolate. Learn more about Venezuelan chocolate here.
Why is freshness so important in chocolate?
Natural chocolate is a perishable product. Only through the industrialization of chocolate making has an extended shelf life for this product been possible. At Chuao, our products contain no preservatives as we choose to create only handmade, natural confections. To ensure freshness, we ship all product with ice packs to maintain a cool temperature. As anyone who has tried to melt chocolate knows, it melts easily but is fickle about temperature. To prevent melting or discoloration, all Chuao Chocolatier creations should be kept cool and stored in appropriate conditions. Should you decide to refrigerate, please place in a resealable type bag or container and let it warm up to room temperature prior to opening. A product that is made with care should be handled with care. Enjoy!
Do our products contain any flavor enhancers or preservatives?
No! We take exacting care to select the finest ingredients and apply the best confectionary processes so that no flavor enhancers, preservatives, or any otherwise unnatural ingredient is required. Chuao Chocolatier creations are designed to be enjoyed just as nature intended and so that nothing gets between your taste buds and the true taste of chocolate.
What is the difference between a bonbon and a truffle?
It is a very subtle difference. Our best attempt to describe it would be: Bonbons have a chocolate outer layer. They can be either made via molds or via an enrobing/dipping process. In this case the inside could be a ganache (mix of cream and chocolate), a praline or other ingredients such as heavy cream, nuts, raisins, etc.
Truffles, on the other hand, have a chocolate based filling that could be a "ganache" or praline inside and are usually covered on its outer layer with non chocolate coverings like: sugar, sliced nuts among others. In the case of the wild truffle for example, it is covered with cocoa powder.
Do we ship nationwide?
Yes. We ship via 2-day air from October to April, and next-day air for
the rest of the year when temperatures can climb. Your order will be
packed and shipped according to what the current climate requires.
Each Chuao order is carefully packed to minimize damage to contents,
including the use of a cold ice wrapper as needed as well as secure
packing to ensure our product provides a feast for the eyes as well as
the palate. If you have any questions about shipping, please contact our shipping department at (888) 635-1444, ext. 115 between 9am-5pm PST, Monday through Friday.
Do we have retail shops?
We opened our first shop in September 2002, in Encinitas, California – two blocks off the beach in a historic part of town. Since then we have grown to FIVE locations: Encinitas, Del Mar, Irvine, UTC/La Jolla and Carlsbad. For more information about our shops and Chocolate Cafés, click here. To be advised when we open new locations and for other Chuao news, join our mailing list by entering your email address into the box at the bottom of this page.
Do we do weddings?
Yes! Our chocolate creations are ideal for weddings: ideal for celebrating a love that is sweet and true. Chuao Chocolatier creations can be packaged as wedding favors or dessert trays for other catered events. Contact us for details.
Do we gift-wrap?
Sorry, we don't provide gift-wrapping services as all of our confections are already carefully packaged in our attractive Chuao boxes.
Do we provide custom corporate event and client gifts?
Yes. Chocolate makes a perfect gift. Let us know how we can help accommodate your corporate gift or event needs. Please visit our Corporate Gifts page.
More information can be found on the following links:
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