I rarely indulge in a cup of black gold -- caffeine and I don't mix so well -- but there is one coffee maker out there that I will brave the speedy heartbeat and sweaty palms for and that's Intelligentsia. Call it loyalty to my hometown (Intelligentsia was started in Chicago) or just a sweet spot for the primo people-watching that the Silver Lake location affords, but no other coffee tastes like Intelligentsia. It's a little like a Porsche: lithely designed but with wicked torque underneath.

Lucky for the folks at the Stones Throw label that Intelligentsia made them their very own blend of coffee. They also made mixes for three Stones Throw artists, including label founder Peanut Butter Wolf.

The "caffeinated mixtapes" will be available for purchase at a few locations on the Stones Throw tour. Peanut Butter Wolf, James Pants, Dam-Funk and Mayer Hawthorne kicked off their North American jaunt at the Echoplex on April 21 and will be wrapping things up in New York on May 9. 

Here is what the Stones Throw blog had to say about the humble birth of this inspired partnership between freakishly good coffee and sampled, layered and tweaked beats:

A few months ago an email came to us asking, "hey, do you guys like coffee?"

In what seemed like moments after the obvious reply, “yes,” a box arrived containing several bags of Intelligentsia's finest, freshly roasted & Burr-ground.* They were labeled Stones Throw Blend, Quasimoto Blend, Madlib Blend and Peanut Butter Wolf Blend.

Madlib got a bag of espresso, and not long afterwards finished 15 new beat tapes. Coincidence? You be the judge. Needless to say a friendship was formed.

The poetic description on the coffee bag for the Stones Throw blend reads: "This medium-bodied blend offers subtle fruit notes with milk chocolate and caramel close behind. The balanced acidity finishes with notes of baked apples."

With such powers of description, maybe Intelligentsia should start writing record reviews too?

-- Margaret Wappler

Photo credit: Stones Throw