Matt & Ben's Espresso Proper Fudge

Do you remember when I received that huge Birthday hamper full of goodies from my Dad? Well, nestled in the bottom was a small container that filled me with excitement: a little espresso cup full of gourmet fudge! I love fudge, but it had been a long old while since I last ate it on its own. Fudge in chocolate, cakes, desserts, ice cream -sure! But on it's own? Gosh, it must be years. 

You may never have heard of Matt & Ben's Proper Fudge before, I certainly hadn't. They're a small Welsh company who specialise in producing home-made fudge using their secret family recipe, available in four flavours: Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Espresso and Chilli Chocolate. I've recently seen the larger bags (150g) of their vanilla fudge for sale in M&S for around £4.00.

I loved the little Espresso cup, it's such an ingenious packaging solution, especially considering that the fudge was coffee flavoured too. The little pot contained 50g, which came in 5 squares. 

The first thing I noticed was how crumbly the texture was. As I mentioned before, it's been a while since I've eaten it, but the fudge I remember was soft and squidgy. This was more like Scottish Tablet.

I took a bite, and couldn't handle much more. The sweetness was overpowering, but what else should I expect? Sugar is the main ingredient after all. The espresso flavour was extremely mild and I just couldn't enjoy it, as much as I wanted to.

It doesn't seem fair to score the fudge because of two reasons:

1. My tastebuds may have changed to not liking fudge.
2. The best before date was March 2016 and I ate it on the 31st March, which *may* explain the crumbliness.

It's an even greater shame because I spotted these suspiciously familiar pots of Fudge at Chester Zoo, and they turned out to be Matt & Ben's too... The flavours sound fantastic!

Have you tried Matt & Ben's Proper Fudge? What are your thoughts? I'm keen to hear about your experiences!