Alexander Duncan MacIntyre was born December 7, 1875 in Ontario, Canada. With his brother Joseph, he started a business in fruit trade between Ontario and British Columbia. Alexander MacIntyre moved to Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, where he served as mayor. Starting in 1902, A.D. MacIntyre served two terms in the Canadian parliament.

According to the account in , Alexander's brother Joseph came to Boquete in 1916 and purchased finca "Carolin". In letters home to his brother he raved about Boquete. However, Joseph's wife and children had stayed in Canada and Joseph returned to be with his family. Joseph's letters made such an impression on Alexander that he emigrated to Boquete in 1925. According to the account on the Kotowa Coffee web site, Alexander read an article in 1918 that so impressed him that he moved to Boquete.

In any case, by 1925 Alexander MacIntyre was established in Boquete. That same year he married Ángela Rosas. Alexander established a coffee plantation on the Cristal River. He named the finca "La Carolina". It was about 190 acres in size, and had a small coffee mill as well. Alexander never learned to speak Spanish, but he could understand it quite well and was able to direct his employees. Alexander died of cancer on December 6, 1941.

Alexander and Ángela MacIntyre had two daughters. Their younger daughter Cecilia married Frank Tedman, a coffee grower whose counterstamp is found on some tokens. Their eldest daughter Silvia married Richard Koymer, and their descendents still own and manage the coffee plantation. The plantation is known as Kotowa Estate Palo Alto, and the brand of the coffee is "Kotowa Coffee". "Kotowa" is a Ngobe indian word meaning "Mountain". A.D. MacIntyre's small coffee mill still exists and is kept as a museum by the Koymer family. You can order coffee direct from the Kotowa Coffee web site or sign up for a tour at Coffee Adventures.

Boquete is a town in the mountains of Chiriqui province, where the climate is cooler than at sea-level. Coffee, oranges, flowers and other agricultural products are grown in the region surrounding Boquete.