When my chocolate arrives what do I do?

Open it up and eat it of course. But if you can't eat it all you probably want to keep it fresh. Usually this means not putting it in the refrigerator unless it's marked on the back of the product to do so, for example the Geek Muffins and the and Pão de Mel need to be refrigerated.

Need to know

The two variables you want to control are temperature and humidity. But you probably already knew that or you would, like us, not be someone who spends a lot of time enjoying the good chocolate. Humidity is actually the dragon to slay, however you can do it with some attention to detail. You want to prevent moisture from settling on the surface of your chocolate. You know how a glass of cold lemonade sweats on a warm day? Well your cool chocolate will develop it's own version of sweat, it's called bloom. It helps to keep it in a vapor proof container when you refrigerate it and then after you remove it from the refrigerator wait until it's back to the happy temperature (which is in the low to mid 60s degrees F or around 17 or 18 degrees C) before opening the container.

What about Geek Muffins and Pao de Mel, why do they need to be refrigerated?

It's about what's inside. You may find it's impossible to hold back from eating these guys, that solves storage. Keep them refrigerated until you're ready to eat them, let warm for 15 minutes for the total Geek Muffin experience, they're rich and deep with natural dark chocolate flavor and inside the squirt in the middle is so good they knock your socks off. The dark chocolate that surrounds the cake is pure and heavenly. You can of course pull one out of the fridge anytime to satisfy a craving.

What if I mess up and my chocolate blooms, is that bad?

It's bad. very, very bad. Just kidding. Bloom is not dangerous, but it does change how smooth and shiny finish of your chocolate, it will not look as pretty on a plate if you let it bloom. And you can help avoid bloom as we describe here or, as we prefer, eating chocolate daily for the benefits.

Why do chocolates from fancy mall stores last so long?

You really don't want to know. There's all sorts of additives that can be added to make the shelf life longer. Chocoville doesn't believe in selling anything with crazy chemicals to chocolate, and we don't think you should eat those chemicals.