Jasmine Becket-Griffith’s artwork never fails to bring a smile to my face. Her work is like a warm cup of coffee that you clasp between your hands on a crisp autumn morning. Tasting notes of sweet sugar, warm spice and just a hint of gothic bitterness spread through the body, awakening the senses to a whole world of fantastical possibilities. Her work not only embodies this feeling, but can now be experienced in its truest form with her very own Strangeling coffee collaboration as Jasmine has teamed up with the folks over at Concept Cafes Coffee to create an experience like no other for coffee and art lovers alike.
The Strangeling Collection is currently home to three unique flavors; “Heart of Nails” (mild winey acidity, mellow malt, fresh coffee cherry), “Winter” (dark chocolate, creamy, fresh citrus zest, candy-like sweetness) and their newest addition “Sanura” (mango, berry, lychee, brown sugar, tea rose). Whilst this collection is still in its infancy having only debuted in early 2025, Jasmine and the Concept Cafes Coffee team have plenty of exciting products in the works for those of us eager to start our mornings off with a bit of creative pep in our step.
In this exclusive interview, Jasmine shares her experience working on this collaboration, the artwork featured on her collectable tins and even gives us a sneak peak of her next blend!
I’d love to learn more about the artworks that featured in this collection, so far we have “Heart of Nails”, “Winter” and “Sanura”. Can you tell me more about each of these artworks? Were they specially designed for your coffee collection?
These are all three acrylic paintings of mine from various points in my career. While they aren’t pieces I created specifically for the coffee collection, they are all paintings we thought would suit the flavour profiles and fit in well with the themes for the launch events.
As “Winter” and “Heart of Nails” were coffees we released at the beginning of 2025, the snowy imagery of “Winter” and the (slightly sinister) grumpy Valentine’s Day imagery of “Heart of Nails” were a great fit for the season.
I selected “Sanura” – my newest release – for several reasons. With the coffee beans’ specifically African origin, I went with this Egyptian princess and idealized ancient desert landscape. She of course is accompanied by an adorable kitty-cat which made her a perfect choice since my “Sanura” coffee was released to coincide with CatCon (the cat themed convention/conference I exhibit at in Pasadena). She is a painting particularly close to my heart, as her little cat is based on my own pet, the late Tigrillo – a rescued Egyptian Mau.
Can you tell me about the process of working on the ‘Strangeling Collection’ and what the process like from an artist perspective?
It’s very much a collaboration between myself, my team at Strangeling, and the good folks at Concept Cafes Coffee. It’s a process that is a LOT more intriguing and creative than most licensing or promotional deals!
Concept Cafes generally has an exciting selection of new blends, and they first provide us with detailed descriptions/flavour profiles. From there my team and I decide which ones may work well with either existing paintings/characters of mine, or may even inspire me to do a new painting just for the project! They then provide us with samples of the actual whole bean coffee for further inspiration (the samples are my employees’ favourite part!). At this stage I make the final decision on my painting, and the graphic designers format it into the GORGEOUS metal collectors’ tins at Concept Cafes. Fun fact – each tin is also printed with an original poem – the poetry is written by my step-sister/Project Manager Sonya Andrews!
Are you a big coffee lover? If so, do you have a personal favourite blend?
Not to sound like a traitor, but I’m more of a tea person. My boyfriend is British and he always has the kettle on while we’re painting. We do periodically rely on coffee to keep the energy up during long days in the studio, and I am always reminded how much I enjoy it (and the wakey-wakey effects!). I always take it black, or as David says (derisively) – “ashtray flavoured”. I have been known to even snag a spoonful of instant coffee dry from the jar, no water involved. Clearly my fans and collectors have more mature tastes than I do!
How do you think coffee and art go together? Do you think the two are well suited for each other like coffee and creamer?
I very much associate coffee with art – the best coffee houses are covered with works by local artists, and I think a lot of us painters run on caffeine!
Do you guys have any more products/flavours in the works? If so, can you share anything about it with our readers?
We do indeed! I am particularly excited for the next one – as we are easing into Halloween season! This next one will feature my “Vampire Dragonling” painting, and we are going to be debuting it (appropriately enough) over the holiday at Spooky Empire Orlando. It’s such a fun show, and since I am a featured exhibitor there and Concept Cafes Coffee will also be vending – I’m going to make a special appearance at their booth for autographing the collector tins! We have some other fun ones in the pipeline and are thrilled that so many folks are loving these!
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