Our interview with Jeremy Godbout at Somewhere Coffee Co.

Somewhere Coffee Co. is a small roastery in Sherwood Park, Alberta, run by Jeremy and Amanda Godbout, who started roasting commercially in 2024. In a little over a year they have gone from roasting at home to two small roasters in a space shared with Gratitude Coffee, with a much larger roasting system on the way.

We caught up with Jeremy to ask him where the name came from, how the partnership with Gratitude began, how they split the roasting and creative work, what the coffee scene in Sherwood Park is like and what their plans are for the future.

Where did the name Somewhere Coffee Co. come from?

We landed on Somewhere Coffee Co. because we felt like the “somewhere” behind coffee often gets lost. There are producers, families, farms and entire communities behind every coffee, but by the time it reaches someone’s cup, a lot of that story has disappeared.

We wanted to bring more of that to the forefront. The country, the region, the producer, the farm, the family history, the varietal, the processing, all of those things play a part in why a coffee tastes the way it does.

We can’t always get every detail for every coffee, but when we can, we want to share it. For us, coffee is very much about the somewhere it came from. That idea ultimately became the name.

You started roasting commercially in 2024. What are you most proud of so far?

It’s pretty wild looking back at how quickly things have changed. We went from roasting out of our house, to sharing space with a café on a single small roaster, to running two small roasters, and now we’re getting ready to move onto a much larger and pretty unique roasting system.

There’s definitely some pride in the equipment and how much we’ve grown, but what we’re most proud of is the coffee we’ve been able to bring in and showcase along the way. We’ve met some incredible producers and importers, heard their stories and had the opportunity to work with coffees from all kinds of origins, varietals and processing methods.

At the same time, we’ve always tried to keep Somewhere approachable. Specialty coffee can get pretty deep pretty quickly, but you shouldn’t need to know everything about coffee to enjoy it. We want to have something for the person who just wants a really good, familiar cup and something for the person who wants to try the weirdest coffee on the table.

You currently sell your coffee from inside Gratitude Coffee. How did that partnership begin?

I’ve known Heath for a long time, mostly in passing from the café he worked at previously. When Heath and Vicki started Gratitude, they began in a small space that worked really well for them at the time. Eventually, they needed more room, and around the same time, we were reaching the point where Somewhere needed to move out of our house and into a space where we could actually grow.

The opportunity ended up making a lot of sense for both of us.

We also have very similar attitudes toward coffee. We like interesting coffees, we care about quality, and we’re always willing to experiment and try something new. That has made working alongside them a really natural fit.

It’s been a long journey getting to this point. Gratitude recently celebrated its first anniversary in the new space, and now we’re right on the cusp of opening our own roastery alongside them. It’s pretty exciting to see how much both businesses have grown in the same space.

Jeremy roasts and Amanda leads the creative side. How did the two of you settle into those roles?

Amanda has always had a creative and artistic side, so that part happened pretty naturally. She spent years doing food and product photography, and when we started Somewhere together, she naturally gravitated toward the visual and creative side of the business.

Jeremy has always had an interest in coffee, but it started on the technical side. Brewing, experimenting, changing one little thing at a time just to see what happened in the cup. What really pulled us in was flavour, especially the flavours that are naturally there. How where a coffee is grown, the variety, the climate and the way it’s processed can completely change what you taste. Eventually, brewing wasn’t enough. That curiosity naturally led Jeremy into small-batch roasting, adding one more variable to play with and another way to see just how much you can change what ends up in the cup.

That curiosity is still a pretty big part of how we approach coffee today.

What is the specialty coffee scene in Sherwood Park like?

Sherwood Park’s specialty coffee scene feels relaxed, community driven and really focused on craft.

Being in a suburban community gives cafés here a slightly different feel. They aren’t necessarily cramped, grab a coffee and run spaces. There’s room to sit down, spend some time, bring the family and actually connect with the people making your coffee.

Hospitality is warm and welcoming, and it’s pretty common to see a familiar face when you walk through the door. There’s a growing appreciation for really good coffee here, but without a lot of the intimidation that can sometimes surround specialty coffee. We think that’s a pretty great environment to be part of.

Your website talks about building your own roasting space. What are you most looking forward to once it’s yours?

Honestly, having room to grow into the ideas we’ve had for Somewhere from the beginning.

Up until now, we’ve done a lot with very little. We started at home, moved onto one small roaster and eventually added a second. We’re now in our new space and slowly building it into the roastery we’ve always wanted. The final big piece of the puzzle is our new, much larger roasting system, which is arriving very soon.

Once that’s up and running, we’ll be able to build a workflow around what we actually want to do, rather than constantly working around the limitations of our equipment and space.

We’re especially excited about having more freedom to experiment. Different roast styles, new coffees, small projects, collaborations and just generally being able to play around with coffee without worrying quite as much about whether we physically have the capacity to do it.

The new space also gives us a chance to invite people into that side of Somewhere a little more. We’d love to host community cuppings, tastings and other events where people can try new coffees, learn a little more about what goes into them and just hang out over good coffee. Somewhere has always been about more than putting coffee into a bag, and having a space built around what we do means we can finally share more of that process.

Mostly, we’re excited to see what Somewhere becomes now that we finally have the room to find out.