I remember going to the Cadbury's factory as a kid (Because when chocolate is life, why wouldn't you remember it forever like a desperate groupie...) And they said cocoa is actually bitter. So I'd have to say 'No deal Noel' to that. When I was in Albania and they made a hot chocolate, I drank it and thought it was horrible. Then the Albanian's looked at me as if I was mental and said that I needed to whack a couple of sugars in there. I can imagine raw cocoa being a similar taste. However I will be downing quite a lot of dark chocolate unless someone ruins my day and tells me that's not vegan either...