Arizona Sake blends Navajo tea with Japanese tradition on Route 66

Atsuo Sakurai operates a sake brewery in Holbrook, Arizona, located just off Route 66. He runs the business with his wife, Heather. Their shop, Arizona Sake, produces award-winning rice wine using a 200-gallon vat.

Sakurai is originally from Tokyo, Japan, which sits roughly 6,000 miles from his current location. He worked in the sake industry in Japan before relocating to the American Southwest. He said he had a long-held dream of establishing a sake manufacturing business somewhere in the world.

Customers often express surprise that the alcohol is produced in a small town in northern Arizona. Sakurai noted that many people initially doubted the operation. “Oh, yeah. Initially, nobody believed,” he said.

The couple merges their respective cultural backgrounds in their products. Heather Sakurai is a member of the Navajo Nation. One of their specific blends uses Navajo tea. Sakurai described the ingredient as a plant native to the region. “Navajo tea, Navajo tea sake. This is Navajo tea itself, a plant,” he said.

The production process is manual and slow. Workers wash and heat rice in baskets before placing it into vats for fermentation. Once the fermentation stage is complete, the team presses the mixture to extract the liquid. Sakurai said the process is similar to pressing mash. It takes approximately three months to produce a single bottle from start to finish.

Sakurai’s sake has won competitions in Japan and other international markets. He produces traditional styles, with some unique creations sold exclusively in Holbrook. Tasters describe the aroma as pear or blueberry. One local taster identified a distinct flavor profile in a specific batch. “Oh my God, I can really taste the prickly pear. This is about as Arizona as it gets,” she said.

Sakurai values the hands-on nature of the work in an era of increasing automation. He aims to preserve this type of traditional industry. When asked if Arizona Sake will still be operating in 100 years, he replied, “Hopefully.”