Hi Axe,
You will find varied descriptions of how a base is meant to taste. Soapy, bland, tomato soup like and so on.
For me, a base should not be the main flavour of the dish but a basis to build on, so therefor, I believe that it should be blandish. Most bases don't taste that great on their own but transform in the final dish, whereas, CA's and SnS's do taste ok on there own. A good tasting base though, is not the requirement for a good final dish.
I think if you stick with bland going on 'OK' then you wont go far wrong. Just avoid bitter, too much ginger, poor quality oil, fresh chillies (if using) even tomato can give a base a bitter note.
That's my slant on a base, what does everyone else think?
Ray
