BOQUETE PANAMA -- It was in Boquete, a green jewel of a town nestled at the edge of a cloud forest in the western Panamanian highlands, that I discovered that most of what I thought I knew about coffee was wrong.

My wife, Judy, and I had just concluded a tour of Cafe Kotowa, one of the many small coffee farms that dot the mountainsides around Boquete, a place esteemed among java aficionados for its exquisite beans. It was an afternoon early in January during what was supposedly the beginning of the dry season, but it seemed suspiciously wet as a chill drizzle fell on us.

Of course, after sweltering in Panama City, bathing in the sun of Panama's Caribbean coast and sweating in the country's steamy lowlands, the cool high country surrounding the nation's tallest peak, Volcán Barú, was an oasis. And the occasional rain shower, which the locals call bajareque, led to many rainbows during our stay in the flower-filled town of Boquete, which is becoming a popular tourist destination. Close to two national parks, it offers panoramic mountain vistas, temperate breezes, cloud-forest hiking, whitewater rafting and a vast array of bird and animal life.

Boquete's status as one of the world's prime spots for growing the much-sought Arabica bean, the source of premium coffee, comes from the ideal location and climate in the surrounding valley. At an altitude over 3,000 feet, it's cool, with rich volcanic soils and alternating sun and rain that seem to shift by the minute. The Hacienda La Esmeralda is there, the coffee estate that set what was then a record wholesale price of $21 per pound in an online auction two years ago.

Coffee has become an integral part of the tourist experience in Boquete. Of the dozens of coffee estates in the valley, several offer tours and tastings to visitors. It helps that the town has a wide choice of restaurants, hotels and cabins, and a well developed network of roads and trails.