Starbucks has been accused of underfilling their drinks like Latte's, and in another lawsuit they are accused of putting too much ice in iced drinks, resulting in less coffee than people expect.
 
Here is a link to a story about the class-action lawsuit about underfilling drinks, and here is a link about the lawsuit accusing Starbucks of using too much ice in their iced drinks.

While I am no longer a fan of Starbucks (weakened rewards program, too little Fair-Trade coffee, too much resource impact with energy usage and landfill waste, far too much sugar in their food, and more) - I personally feel that they do not underfill drinks.  It makes no sense for the to do that, and anger people.  Also they are good at listening to custom orders so for example if someone wants less foam, you just have to ask.

For Latte's, they use the full shots of espresso so underfilling would mean what?  Too little milk?   If that were consistently done, then the drinks would taste too strong - but you don't hear people saying that.  

The foam in a Latte or Cappuccino will settle if you don't drink it right away.  To some that might appear to be underfilling, but it is just settling - and will happen with such drinks from any vendor.

But now, instead of 12 points, you need 125 points to get a free item.  This makes no sense at all.  Starbucks thinks that all they have to do is explain the program over and over - which just shows how much they are missing the point.

Starbucks has lost touch with its customers.

Whomever conceived of this program does not understand why the Starbucks Rewards was so popular in the first place.   Whomever signed off on this is more interested in profits, than in the needs and wants of the customers.

Yes, it is 'easier' to get Stars, but that does not make up for how badly this new program has been conceived.  As a drip-coffee drinker, I feel that Starbucks has cast me aside.  It appears that Starbucks only cares about the big spenders; people who buy Latte's and sandwiches all at once.   In fact right on Starbucks site, on their own blog post that announced the new program, comments are overwhelmingly negative.  We also wrote a Linkedin Article on this.   People need to know; it is also instructive, from a business perspective - why take  something that is so good, and change it that much?

I  have talked to both customers and employees; everyone person I talked to is unhappy about these changes, and there are many articles online (here is one, and here is another, at Fortune.com, titled "Customers are Furious with Starbucks' New Rewards Program").

If you think about it, no one really needs to go to Starbucks.

So I am cancelling my account.  I have been a loyal customer for many years, and have spent a lot of money at Starbucks - something that they apparently do not care about at all.  i will lose my 'Gold' status, and free refills.  But it won't matter since I will be going there FAR less.  In fact, here is a picture of my last earned Reward at Starbucks:
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I want to end this blog post by saying, that there are a number of things that I am unhappy about with Starbucks - not just the Rewards Program.  But in the past I never criticized Starbucks, since I am a customer and I try to be positive.  But there are just too many problems there now.  I will be exploring some of these, in future blog posts.    I believe that Starbucks is losing its 'cool' factor, and some of the reasons - like this badly-conceived Rewards Program - show that Starbucks is doing it to itself.

There are oils in coffee called Terpenes.  These oils can cause the body to produce more Cholesterol.  People do not realize that some of the cholesterol in your blood is not just from eating, but is in fact produced by your liver.  There are various reasons for why the body makes Cholesterol; but too much and you get a buildup in the arteries.

Drinking UN-filtered coffee is the Terpenes oils are in coffee. So that includes the Espresso machine, and the French Press; these put you at risk.  Your favorite Latte or Cappuccino will likely contain these oils.  Its important to learn because no one yet found all the causes of heart disease; people keep dying unnecessarily.  So if those at risk can eliminate one of those causes, that's huge!

It appears that the paper filter in drip coffee makers does remove the Terpenes oils.

So who should be concerned?  Anyone with a history of heart disease, and anyone with risk factors.  If you mom or your grandfather has had heart problems, you might be at risk - and should have second thoughts about any non-filtered coffees.

If your family has no history of heart disease, and you are not overweight and not a smoker, then you probably have low risk for Cholesterol-related problems - and thus a French Press, or anything from an Espresso machine, should be fine.

We are talking with various local and 'chain' coffee shops about this, and will do a followup report so you know who is addressing this issue, and who is not.   Actually you can tell easily - when you walk into a coffee shop or restaurant, and they are brewing decaf in their drip machine all day, and all night, then you have the health option to get a decaf brewed by paper filter.  Now in some coffee shops, they are not aware of this issue or even worse, they care more about profit's than the convenience and health of their customers - and so they refuse to brew decaf with a paper filter.  Its hard to understand why a coffee shop would refuse.

What makes matters worse, in terms of heart health, is that there is some strong evidence now that sugar can cause a rise in Cholesterol levels.  The liver reacts to sugar as part of its metabolism.  And think where you encounter a lot of sugar: at the coffee shop, with your flavored and sweetened Latte, and those tasty pastries they are always tempting you with.  So its a double-edged sword..

We are hoping to find some flexibility in independent coffee shops, and in the big chains too.  Stay tuned.

And now for some good news; there is one coffee press that includes a paper filter - it is called the Aeropress, and its quite popular now - you can read our review, and here is a picture of one:

 
Here are some articles we found on Terpenes oils and raising Cholesterol:

NBC News
Coffee Crew
LiveStrong
Nutralegacy
FoodGoat
Benecol

You can keep  up with this topic by using Google News search, which also has a news alert/subscription option, and ask your doctor. It will help to educate your local coffee shop; have them read this article, and do some online research too.

It is very unfortunate that coffee shops do not post information about this.  Being pro-active about health is important.