Boris Yendler (left), a Saratoga-based rocket scientist and Teri Hope (right), owner of Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, cut a ribbon unveiling the new and improved coffee roaster. (Brandy Miceli/Staff Reporter)
Only at the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company will you find coffee beans roasted using space technology. Last week, Boris Yendler, a Saratoga-based rocket scientist, delivered his insulation system for the coffee shop’s longtime roaster.
Owner Teri Hope opened her coffee shop in 1982, and the large, crimson-red Italian roaster quickly became a staple, but it emitted so much heat that extra air conditioning was required to keep customers comfortable.
Yendler, a Russian-born thermal expert who cut his teeth at NASA and Lockheed Martin, now owns InSat Consulting, a company that develops satellites to withstand heat in space.
When Yendler was visiting his daughter—who worked at the coffee company for years—he noticed that the in-house roaster was causing employees to sweat.
“We needed to take care of this local warming,” Yendler said. “I started to think, Americans spend so much money for space research, and finally the time came for me to give it back, so I started to work together with Teri and finally after nine months, the machine doesn’t give out as much heat anymore.”
At a ribbon-cutting event celebrating the new and improved roaster, Yendler showed a sample of the superwool insulation that he used. He explained that the cooling chamber was insulated first, then covered with a silver metallic sheeting. To preserve the character of the historic roaster, Yendler and Hope found metal and a little paint touch-up did the trick.
“We were feeling the heat,” Hope said of the old roaster, “especially in the last few weeks because of those skyrocketing temperatures; it got uncomfortably warm for us. Boris did such a beautiful job and was so thoughtful about it.”
While Hope said it is too soon to know whether the insulation will help her bottom line, she is hopeful that it will. If it does, she’ll spread the word of Yendler’s assistance to her fellow coffee roasters.
