The wait is almost over: from September 3, 2025, our new café at Basel SBB station will welcome you with more space, more light – and even more great coffee. If you're ever in Basel, be sure to visit us in our new café.
Even our first café, measuring just 38 square meters, was a dream come true for us. After all, what could be better than welcoming people with a great cup of coffee amidst the hustle and bustle of commuters? Precisely where things often have to be quick, and where coffee is prepared in volume but rarely with class – that’s where we wanted to show what’s possible when you take coffee seriously.
The fact that Basel SBB station put their trust in us six years ago to realize that first café still fills us with great gratitude to this day. And we are all the more delighted that we have now been able to develop this space further: On 85 square meters of floor space plus 40 square meters of gallery space, a new meeting place has been created. A café that is a place to linger, but is also optimized to provide coffee quickly during the commuting rush. And the new café is also a small coffee shop with roasted coffee and accessories.
From coffee-to-go to a café for lingering
Our first KM-Café opened shortly before the pandemic. Not an ideal moment. But with your support, we managed to get through that time, and our café became a daily coffee stop for many commuters. Soon, more and more travelers arrived with the wish to be able to sit down during longer layovers. The coffee-to-go café became a place of encounter.
However, with only six seats, lingering remained difficult. We are now breaking through this limitation: More than 40 seats inside and more outside, plenty of space to take a breath – whether for a quick date, a focused business meeting, or a moment of calm in everyday life.
More than a café: coffee knowledge & water filling station
Our new café is also a shop for coffee beans, accessories, and brewing equipment – and a place where we share our knowledge directly.
A special highlight: our coffee water filling station. Home baristas can pick up perfectly treated water for their espresso machine or filter coffee here for free. Sounds niche? It’s essential. Over 90% of all espresso machine defects are due to water that is too hard.
Three espresso machines instead of one
Choosing the espresso machines kept us busy for many months. As testers of espresso machines, we know both high-quality devices for home use and machines developed for the catering industry.
In our coffee school, we work with six professional catering machines – each one as expensive as a small car. Yet, we stand in front of these machines time and again and think: the espresso from good home machines regularly tastes better.
Espresso machines for home baristas have evolved enormously in recent years. Pressure and flow profiling are standard on the best machines. This allows a wide variety of coffees to be brewed precisely and individually, tailored to their specific character. The catering industry has largely missed this development.
That is why we consciously decided on three espresso machines that were originally designed for home use. We chose models with professional components that are also powerful in continuous operation. The new café at the station is equipped with three Sanremo Yous.
This decision brings numerous advantages, and we are convinced that it will set a trend. If one machine fails, two others are ready to go. This ensures redundancy and operational reliability – unlike many cafés where the entire service grinds to a halt in the event of a technical defect.
Furthermore, our setup enables a flexible way of working: when the café empties out in the evening, we can clean and switch off the first machine. This saves electricity, labor, and costs. Efficiency, sustainability, and quality go hand in hand.
Our setup is complemented by a free-standing steam wand from Modbar for flexible frothing, as well as a milk dispenser that delivers chilled milk in the exact amount needed – resource-saving, hygienic, and economical.
A place that shows what we do
- How does the roast curve change the taste?
- Which brew recipe do we recommend for a filter coffee?
- What is the carbon footprint of a coffee from Honduras?
We answer such questions every day – not just online or in courses, but directly in the café.
Every Wednesday evening, a workshop or lecture takes place on the gallery. Topics include:
These events are designed by our team: by roasters, barista trainers, and our crew from the academy, bakery, and roastery. They bring their knowledge directly to you – approachable, practical, and with a lot of passion.
Architecture, craft, atmosphere
The train station is a place of commuting. Many shops are built functionally, often artificially lit, and the windows are covered.
Our café is the opposite. Open, bright, made of wood. We didn't partition anything off; we invited people in. Together with our carpenters, we built a gallery made of light, glazed wood. The entire café is the opposite of the often repetitive shop designs of system catering.
And what’s more: We built the place ourselves. Our team sanded tables, built shelves, and constructed the bar. The front was tiled by a friend. Nothing about it is standardized; everything was created by hand and with heart.
This is no coincidence, but part of our philosophy. We like to design things ourselves. We learn as we go. We try things out. And we share what we learn. This attitude runs through all our work – in the roastery, in the academy, on the farm, and, of course, in the café.
A café with an attitude
All the products we offer in the café are carefully chosen: if possible, regional and from small and family-run businesses, with high ecological standards. As a purpose-driven company, this attitude is not an accessory but part of our DNA.
We carry organic oat drink from the Gutsch cooperative. Our milk comes directly from an organic producer in Reigoldswil. We get our tea from Länggass. We do our own baking. We stew our compote with fruits from the region.
Opening & opening hours
On Tuesday, September 2, 2025, we will say goodbye to our temporary location.
On Wednesday, September 3, at 6:00 a.m., we will open the new KM-Café at Basel SBB station.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you there.
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 6:00 – 21:00
Saturday & Sunday: 7:00 – 20:00
Come by. Try our coffees. Take a look around. And say hello.
We look forward to seeing you!
