What are reasonable starting blends for a newcomer to the espresso world?

No, I don't mean named blends from particular roasters, I mean general directions that I can use at my local roaster..who may not have all of the specific beans discussed here

From what I have read so far, it seems that robusta and "washed, high grown coffees" must be treated with care (from the "Introduction to Espresso Blends" pages of this site)

So..what is a reasonable specification for a starting espresso blend that does not involve specific names from specific roasters?

Since my knowledge of South American coffee growing geography is minimal, simply saying "high grown" doesn't help a lot

BTW..as a newcomer to the forum, I first checked the FAQs and found no answer

Medium roasts are easygoing; as are traditional blends with around 50% brazil coffee. The trend nowadays is towards lighter roasts and single origin high grown coffees. These are more difficult; the trick with them is to grind very fine, and dose quite low. Only go to a higher dose/coarser grind if the result is too flat.

I remember reading Sweet Maria's Blending Basics when I first started out and really enjoyed it. Maybe you will too if you haven't already.
http://www.sweetmarias.com/blending.php Scroll down to Espresso Blends if you don't want to read all of it.