I am not a humungous coffee drinker but I simply cannot get by function without that cup first thing in the morning.

And I won't drink any ol' coffee. It's got to be delicious, yet affordable. Which is a surprisingly hard combination to find. 

But Reunion Island Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster out of Oakville, Ontario has it all. And then some.

What I like about Reunion Island is that they are all about crafting good coffee but don't charge an arm and a leg for it. And they care so deeply about it - Founder and President Peter Pesce is a former Chairman of the Coffee Association of Canada and is considered one of the country's foremost experts on coffee. Yet you won't find any pretension or smarmy gimmicks like other companies resort to - for Reunion Island Coffee, it's just about making a fine product.

And a fine product it is. Their coffee is never bitter (I'm looking at you, popular coffee chain on every corner) and delivers a smooth, rich flavour. I appreciate that it comes in many varieties and that it is not just available online or difficult to find in stores like I've experienced in the past (their coffee is available in specialty food stores on on their website).

The best part is that for those of us who have grown addicted to pod systems, can now enjoy Reunion Island's Coffee Pods.

Peter's son Adam,  has taken over the company’s environmental and sustainability practices and program and thus, Reunion Island Coffee now available in compostable coffee pods (they look like round tea bags).

This is great for those of us who have gotten used to single-serve coffee and yet don't want to use "K-cups" because their plastic containers cannot be recycled.

So Reunion Island has partnered with BUNN, whose industrial coffee machines you've probably seen in offices and cafes before, and has recently produced its first made-for-home coffee brewer. It also happens to be compatible with R.I.'s compostable coffee pods.

There is much to love about this system. First of all, it accommodates both tea and coffee drinkers (I'm half-British, so I've got to have my afternoon tea), and it's more than half the size of most other pod machines (translation: I just gained a whack of counter space, which means dinner prep just got a whole lot easier). You simply pour in the amount of water for your cup on the top and place your coffee or tea pod in the drawer. Put your mug underneath and in just a few minutes, a perfectly brewed cuppa awaits.