Two Calgary Engineers Quit Their Jobs to Chase the Perfect Espresso. Nearly Two Decades Later, They Are Raising the Bar on Coffee Across Canada.
Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb met as University of Calgary engineering students in 1996, bonded over a shared obsession with food and espresso, drove through a blizzard to visit a Seattle coffee roaster in March 2006, and opened their first café kiosk at the Calgary Farmers' Market on March 30, 2007. Today Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters operates six locations in Calgary, ships directly to coffee lovers across Canada, and remains one of the country's most respected specialty roasters — built on engineering precision, direct-trade sourcing, and an absolute refusal to accept mediocre coffee.
August 14, 2026 · By Justin Plosz · Calgary, Alberta · Business · 9 min read read
1996: A Digital Circuits Class, a Lab Partnership, and Two Perfectionists
The story of Phil & Sebastian begins not in a café but in a University of Calgary engineering classroom in 1996. Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb were paired as lab partners in a digital circuits class. There was no thunderbolt moment — no shared vision of a coffee empire unfolding before them. There was just the recognition that they worked well together because they were both perfectionists. Neither had to convince the other to stay up late to keep working on a project.
What made them unusual among their engineering cohort was their shared appetite for the finer things. While their classmates subsisted on pizza and beer, Phil and Sebastian were genuinely interested in food and wine — the kind of students who actually read about what they were eating and drinking, who thought about why things tasted the way they did, who brought the same analytical rigour to a meal that they brought to a circuit board.
They graduated, entered the engineering workforce, and got good jobs. By all external measures, their careers were proceeding exactly as planned. But something was already building, slowly, in parallel — a curiosity about coffee that would eventually become an obsession, and then a company.
2002: An Uncle, a Rancilio, and the Book That Changed Everything
The espresso revelation came for both Phil and Sebastian in 2002 — accidentally and almost simultaneously. For Phil, it began with his Uncle Billy, who was a committed espresso aficionado. When Phil visited, Uncle Billy would meticulously prepare espressos for them to enjoy. The process captivated Phil, who bought a Gaggia Baby and began experimenting.
Sebastian's path was a birthday present: his wife Emily gave him a Delonghi espresso machine. Despite using good beans, the results were, in his own words, atrocious. After extensive research — their engineering tendencies kicking in — the truth emerged: the Delonghi was essentially useless and would never produce a drinkable espresso. It was exchanged immediately for a Rancilio Silvia. The results improved from atrocious to barely drinkable.
Then Uncle Billy passed away and left Phil a book: David Schomer's _Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques_. As Sebastian has said, that book changed their lives. It introduced them to the science behind espresso — dosing, distribution, tamping, extraction — appealing to both the engineer and the emerging aficionado in each of them. Sebastian added a Rancilio Rocky grinder, multiplying his wife's initial investment tenfold. But finally, something drinkable emerged from the kitchen. Phil & Sebastian's first tasting lab was operational — they just didn't know it yet.
A March Blizzard, a Road Trip to Seattle, and One Cup That Made Everything Clear
Their first cup of Vivace Espresso — roasted by David Schomer himself in Seattle — turned admiration into full-blown obsession. Not only did Schomer have his own roasting business, he had a small café where drinks were served small and without syrups. A road trip was immediately mandatory.
The trip was almost comically ill-advised. It was March. There were severe road warnings, an avalanche advisory, and sound advice from everyone around them to stay home. Phil and Sebastian ignored all of it. They loaded the car with two friends who would both become instrumental to the company: Joe Oppenheim, a long-time friend who would become Phil & Sebastian's company lawyer, and Jonathan Herman, Sebastian's brother-in-law and a designer who would become one of the guiding forces behind the brand. Herman, notably, had never had a cup of coffee in his life at the ripe age of twenty-one.
They made it to Seattle. They drank the coffee. The road back was clearer than the road there — not the weather, but the direction. Two engineers with a tasting lab in a Calgary kitchen now had a model, a standard, and a reason to stop procrastinating about what they clearly needed to do.
March 30, 2007: A Kiosk at the Calgary Farmers' Market and What Came After
Phil and Sebastian opened their first location on March 30, 2007 — a kiosk at the Calgary Farmers' Market. They had left their engineering careers, designed a custom-built production roaster, written proprietary software for fulfilment and menu management, and applied eleven years of accumulated obsession to the problem of producing the best possible espresso in Calgary.
The kiosk was small. The coffee was not. Word spread the way it does when something is genuinely different from everything else in the market. More locations followed: Mission on 4th Street SW, then Marda Loop, then Chinook Centre, then additional Farmers' Market locations. With each expansion, the philosophy remained unchanged — engineering rigour applied to direct-trade sourcing, single-origin coffees, and the belief that the standard for coffee was too low and they were there to raise it.
Today Phil & Sebastian employs seventeen people and generates approximately $8.9 million in annual revenue — not enormous by corporate coffee chain standards, but precisely right for what they are: a serious specialty roaster that has remained true to its founding purpose across nearly two decades of growth. Staff compete annually at the Canadian Barista Championships; in a recent competition, David took second place overall and Aimee placed fifth.
The Simmons Building: A Former Mattress Factory Becomes Calgary's Most Ambitious Coffee Collaboration
In 2015, Phil & Sebastian opened what may be their most significant location: a café and roasting headquarters inside Calgary's restored Simmons Building in the East Village, at 618 Confluence Way SE. The building — a century-old, two-storey former mattress factory that had been carefully restored — is now a 400-seat culinary destination that houses three of Calgary's most acclaimed food businesses.
Alongside Phil & Sebastian, the Simmons Building is home to Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, owned by Aviv Fried and widely regarded as Calgary's finest artisan bakery, and Charbar, the acclaimed restaurant from chefs John Jackson and Connie DeSousa — the duo behind the nationally lauded Charcut. The three businesses operated independently but chose the space together, attracted by the building's character, its East Village location near the National Music Centre, and the opportunity to create something that was more than the sum of its parts.
For Phil & Sebastian, the Simmons Building represented both a coming of age and a restatement of values. Part scientist's lab, part fine-sipping experience — as they described it at opening — the new café was built around the conviction that coffee deserves the same considered environment as great food. The custom-built production roaster, the single-origin selections, the engineers-turned-roasters applying precision to every element of the experience: the Simmons location is Phil & Sebastian at its most fully realized. Find them at philsebastian.com, across six Calgary locations, and on Instagram at @philsebastian.
Key takeaways
- Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters was founded in 2007 by Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb — two University of Calgary engineering graduates who met as lab partners in 1996.
- The company opened its first kiosk at the Calgary Farmers' Market on March 30, 2007 after years of developing a home espresso tasting lab and a pivotal road trip to Vivace in Seattle.
- Phil & Sebastian now operates six Calgary locations, with the Simmons Building in East Village serving as the roasting headquarters and flagship café.
- The Simmons Building location is a 400-seat culinary destination shared with Sidewalk Citizen Bakery and Charbar restaurant — three of Calgary's most acclaimed food businesses under one restored historic roof.
- The company's coffee approach is built on direct-trade sourcing, single-origin transparency, a custom-built production roaster, and engineering rigour applied to every stage of the process.
- Phil & Sebastian ships nationally at philsebastian.com. General café phone: 403.261.1885. Instagram: @philsebastian.
Frequently asked questions
- Where are Phil & Sebastian locations in Calgary?
- Phil & Sebastian operates six Calgary locations: the Simmons Building at 618 Confluence Way SE in East Village, Mission at 2207 4th Street SW, Marda Loop at 2043 33rd Ave SW, Chinook Centre at 6455 Macleod Trail SW, and two Calgary Farmers' Market locations. General phone: 403.261.1885.
- Who are Phil and Sebastian?
- Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb are University of Calgary engineering graduates who met as lab partners in 1996. They left their engineering careers to open Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters in 2007, beginning with a kiosk at the Calgary Farmers' Market.
- What makes Phil & Sebastian different from other coffee roasters?
- Phil & Sebastian applies engineering precision to every aspect of specialty coffee — from direct-trade sourcing with dedicated growers around the world to a custom-built production roaster and proprietary quality systems. They focus on single-origin, transparent sourcing, and compete annually at the Canadian Barista Championships.
- Can I order Phil & Sebastian coffee online?
- Yes. Phil & Sebastian ships specialty coffee across Canada through their website at philsebastian.com, including fresh-frozen, single-origin coffees roasted on demand and shipped within days of roasting.
- What is the Simmons Building?
- The Simmons Building at 618 Confluence Way SE in Calgary's East Village is a restored century-old former mattress factory that houses three acclaimed Calgary businesses: Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, and Charbar restaurant. The combined space seats 400 people.
- What is direct-trade coffee?
- Direct trade means sourcing coffee directly from growers rather than through commodity brokers or intermediaries. Phil & Sebastian pay well above industry average for their green coffee, share knowledge with producing partners, and invest in projects at origin — ensuring producers thrive while the coffee arriving in Calgary is the best it can be.
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