ACCORDING to Jennifer Earle, founder of the Chocolate Ecstasy Tours, Halloween outstrips both Easter and Christmas as the most popular time for chocolate sales.

And following the launch of the first Brighton Chocolate Ecstasy Tour last month she is looking forward to running a Halloween special across the city next weekend.

“In London some of the chocolate shops we visit have made their own Halloween-themed chocolates, such as garlic chocolate to keep the vampires away, or fish sauce and caramel,” she says.

“If the Brighton shops aren’t doing anything we will source a few weird bars.

“It’s like a trick or treat for adults – we just knock on chocolate shop doors. We might give prizes for the best costumes.”

Earle launched the first Chocolate Ecstasy Tours in London six years ago – combining local history with guided visits to neighbourhood chocolate shops. There are now tours in Mayfair, Chelsea and Notting Hill, as well as evening and day-long events.

“I’d heard you should start a business from your passions,” says Earle. “So I thought I love meeting people, history, London, travelling and chocolate.

“I was given two bars of chocolate for my birthday in 2004 by two makers I hadn’t heard of – Charbonel and Maison Du Chocolat. I realised they both had bases in Piccadilly, but I would never have found them by myself, and would have felt nervous about walking into them. When I finally did they were so helpful and happy to talk about chocolate, even though I was only buying a couple of bars.”

The London tours proved popular, so she began thinking about moving them out of the city. Brighton is the first place to host tours outside London.

“I was looking into York initially, but as I was researching Brighton kept coming up,” she says. “It wasn’t far to drop down to from London, and there are the great chocolate shops like Montezuma, Choccywoccydoodah, Chocoholly and Hotel du Chocolat. I realised there was enough to do a tour of Brighton.”

The planning for the Brighton tour, which is run by Earle and her Brighton-based guide Sally Lockhart, began in February, as she made contact with the various chocolate shops and started planning potential routes.

“Our trails are always a work in progress,” she says. “We never say which shops are featured on our website as places open and close. With Brighton we will also be stopping at a gelato shop to try their chocolate ice creams.”

The tours are fairly leisurely, with samples at each stop, and the option to buy more chocolate at a discount at each participating shop on the trail. The Brighton and Hove trail even includes a short taxi ride to take in Chocoholly in Hove.

“It is supposed to be luxurious, indulgent and fun,” says Earle. “We thought it would be quite a long stretch to walk from central Brighton to Chocoholly along the equivalent of Oxford Street! We didn’t want to miss Chocoholly out as she is so inspiring and has a real passion for chocolate.

“In all we are sat down for about 45 minutes – the tours aren’t about being on your feet very much!”

The tours are designed for six to eight people, to ensure they are intimate and don’t pack out the participating shops.

“We want it to be a nice experience for the shops too,” says Earle. “We give them warning about how many people we are expecting each time.”

They are held at 10am on Saturdays, when chocolate shops are generally a bit quieter, but they can also be set up by request for hen parties and birthday treats.

“We tailor the talks so that if a group is more interested in the benefits of chocolate or the history of the area we will concentrate on that,” says Earle.

“It’s not about standing around and listening to a history lecture in a giant group of people – these are much more personal and fun!”

Brighton Chocolate Ecstasy Tour Start from Gloucester Road, Brighton, Saturdays and by request

Tours cost £33 per person, book in advance from www.chocolateecstasytours.com/brighton-chocolate-tour