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Classroom example Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters

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The question

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How it works

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For you

About Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters

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Sources

How can measurements help make a roast repeatable?

Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters · The company identifies the Simmons Building as its Calgary roasting facility.

Graphic-novel illustration. Fictional roast operator comparing sample beans and an instrument reading beside a closed roasting machine.

Where it fits

Pick your class
  • Physics 30 · Reflection and optical measurement

How it works

Schematic · not to scale

Connect process records to product evidence

Conceptual teaching illustration for How can measurements help make a roast repeatable? Four numbered stages and arrows correspond to the explanation below.
  1. Record the roast conditions.

  2. Take a sample from the batch.

  3. Measure light reflected from the sample under controlled conditions.

  4. Compare readings and adjust the next test.

The instrument and charts are illustrative. Light travels from source to sample to sensor; the different arrow colours identify paths, not a wavelength change. Reflectance does not measure flavour.

The lesson, in the real world

Consistency depends on checking what happened, not just repeating a recipe.

  1. 1

    A roast changes a batch of green coffee through heating. Time and temperature matter, but they do not describe every property of the result.

    Our explanation
  2. 2

    The company says it records roast data and checks samples with a reflectometer.

    Our explanation
  3. 3

    A reflectance reading measures how light returns from the sample under specified conditions; it is not a direct measurement of flavour.

    Our explanation
  4. 4

    Comparing process records with product measurements can reveal variation and guide the next controlled test.

    Our explanation
Source: Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab); Alberta Physics 20–30 performance standards: A1, B1 and C1(opens in a new tab)

Who does this work

Roles connected to this example

What each kind of work involves, the job titles to look for, and where to find postings in Calgary.

  • Roast production

    Operate a controlled food-processing sequence and compare the product with its intended result.

    Classroom connection
    Repeating a setting is not the same as verifying a repeatable result.

    Job titles to search
    Coffee roaster · Food production operator · Food quality assurance technician

    Company process description supports roasting work; no specific roaster vacancy verified.
  • Instrument development and testing

    Help build and check the equipment that produces measurements. Instrument work joins hardware, software and experiments rather than treating a reading as automatically correct.

    Classroom connection
    Measurement uncertainty is part of using a tool responsibly.

    Job titles to search
    Test engineer · Electronics technologist

    Custom equipment and reflectance measurements support the work-area connection.
  • Quality and traceability

    Make it possible to explain how a result or product was produced. Quality work checks records, methods and acceptance criteria so variation can be investigated rather than hidden.

    Classroom connection
    Repeated results need both measurements and records of the conditions that produced them.

    Job titles to search
    Quality assurance technician · Quality control analyst

    Company describes batch checks; the general quality profile is not a job description.

Cards distinguish work documented at Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters from related work at other employers. Dated accounts and postings are not a current staff roster or a promise of a vacancy.

Ways in

For your students

Ways to prepare for this work

Programs that teach skills this work uses. Each is one route in, not a requirement, and no program has endorsed this page.

  • SAITDiplomaCalgary

    Instrumentation Engineering Technology

    Work with measurement devices, calibration and automated process controls.

    About this route

    Check the provider’s current prerequisites and intake availability. This is a related learning route, not a hiring promise or an employer requirement.

    Why it connects to the work · our interpretation

    Instrument development and testing

    Supports process testing, troubleshooting and control systems. Measurement uncertainty is part of using a tool responsibly.

  • SAITDiplomaCalgary

    Chemical Laboratory Technology

    Practice chemical analysis, sample preparation and analytical instrumentation.

    About this route

    Check the provider’s current prerequisites and intake availability. This is a related learning route, not a hiring promise or an employer requirement.

    Why it connects to the work · our interpretation

    Quality and traceability

    Supports laboratory testing and reliable measurement. Repeated results need both measurements and records of the conditions that produced them.

  • SAITDiplomaCalgary

    Mechanical Engineering Technology

    Study mechanical systems, design and manufacturing, with specialization options.

    About this route

    Check the provider’s current prerequisites and intake availability. This is a related learning route, not a hiring promise or an employer requirement.

    Why it connects to the work · our interpretation

    Roast production

    Mechanical study supports understanding equipment and process measurements. It is adjacent technical preparation, not a coffee-roasting qualification or employer requirement.

    Instrument development and testing

    Supports component design, prototyping and equipment work. Measurement uncertainty is part of using a tool responsibly.

Ask the class

Use it in class

Ask the class

If two batches have the same recorded temperature history, what else would you want to measure?

Compare three fictional batches: A and B share a heating record but have different colour readings; B and C share colour readings but have different sensory notes. List what each comparison can and cannot show.

Mindset it shows

The fictional comparisons are not company results. No coffee consumption or hot-equipment activity is required.

About Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters

Consistency depends on checking what happened, not just repeating a recipe.

Headquarters
Headquarters not separately verified for this example.
Team size
Not verified. We have not found a dated, sourced figure.

Phil & Sebastian operates a roasting facility in Calgary’s Simmons Building. The company describes a custom roaster, logged roast data and additional reflectance measurements used to check batches. The story connects food production with instrumentation: recording operating conditions and checking the product answer different questions. Its claims about competitors are not needed for this example.

Source: Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab)
Who does this work

Read each source’s date and scope: a documented role is not proof of a current vacancy or of where every position is based.

Reported as Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters states it. Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

Sources and course fit

Sources checked 17 Oct 2026

Organization claims are reported as the organization states them. Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

What we know, and how
TypeClaimHow we know
workPhil & Sebastian operates a roasting facility in Calgary’s Simmons Building. The company describes a custom roaster, logged roast data and additional reflectance measurements used to check batches. The story connects food production with instrumentation: recording operating conditions and checking the product answer different questions. Its claims about competitors are not needed for this example.Source: Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 1; Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 2; Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 3Source-backed company/project account
local connectionThe company identifies the Simmons Building as its Calgary roasting facility.Source: Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 1; Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 2; Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 3Source-backed local work
course fitPhysics 30 C1 includes reflection. Trace light from source to sample to sensor; roast data and flavour are separate evidence.Source: Alberta Physics 20–30 performance standards: A1, B1 and C1Editorial application of verified curriculum topics
limitsNo exact roast temperatures or proprietary machine internals. Colour and flavour must remain distinct.Source: Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 1; Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 2; Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters — company/project evidence 3Scope of this example

Solid green: the organization states it. Outlined: seen in a dated source. Dashed: our interpretation, not yet researched, or announced but not yet real.