Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Pinal Airpark
Note the chrysanthemum crests.
Hachiman Bridge
Clarendon War Memorial.
Clarendon War Memorial
This fried chicken is one of Bangkok’s most famous.
Gai Tord Jae Kee
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
This fried chicken is one of Bangkok’s most famous.
Gai Tord Jae Kee
Chefs Aruss Lerlerstkull and Atcharaporn Kiatthanawat lean into regional traditions.
Charmgang
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
At Nai Mong Hoi Thod, the oyster omelet is worth waiting for.
Nai Mong Hoi Thod
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Haleakalā National Park’s summit region, shrouded in the pre-dawn fog.
Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs
5 days ago
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
6 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
7 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
8 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Arizona Holbrook Arizona Sake
AO Edited Gastro Obscura

Arizona Sake

One man handcrafts "the best sake made outside of Japan" in a tiny desert town on Route 66.

Holbrook, Arizona

Added By
CoriB89
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Arizona Sake is easy to miss.   CoriB89 / Atlas Obscura User
Arizona Sake is easy to miss.   CoriB89 / Atlas Obscura User
The three different sakes for sale.   CoriB89 / Atlas Obscura User
New Facade   hetmzr101 / Atlas Obscura User
Tasting   brendonstinson / Atlas Obscura User
  suckaj43/Used With Permission
  Arizona Sake/Used With Permission
Rice Fermenting   brendonstinson / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Holbrook, Arizona, is about the last place you’d expect to find world-class sake. With a current population of about 5,000, Holbrook’s heyday was during the Wild West days of the late 1800s, complete with cowboys, bandits, a notorious sheriff, and shootouts. Today it’s a place to stop for gas en route to Petrified Forest National Park and pick up Route 66 souvenirs. It’s also home to a brewery producing excellent sake.

Founder Atsuo Sakurai, a native of Yokohama, Japan, moved to Holbrook in 2015 to be closer to the family of his wife, Heather, who is Navajo and from the town. Soon after, he started brewing sake in his garage. Three years later, Arizona Sake won the gold medal for the best sake made outside of Japan in the Tokyo Sake Competition. The following year, it was named best of class at the 2019 Los Angeles International Wine Competition.

In Japan, Sakurai had worked for more than a decade to earn the title of Certified First-Grade Sake Brewer. But because of strict regulations, he had to work for established sake producers. Moving to Holbrook allowed him to make his own sake and established him as the only First-Grade Sake Brewer in the United States.

In 2019, Sakurai freed up room for his wife to park in the garage and opened his Sake House in a 1,000-square-foot bunker-style building on a dusty acre between a Super 8 Motel and Dollar General store. This is where he handcrafts every batch of his sake and prepares it for delivery to stores, restaurants, and individuals in Arizona, New York, Hawaii, and California.

In addition to his original unpasteurized junmai ginjo, he has added a pasteurized version, a sparkling sake called Desert Snow, and, at the urging of his father-in-law, sake subtly infused with sprigs of Navajo Tea.

Related Tags

Alcohol Breweries Sake Rice Deserts

Know Before You Go

Arizona Sake is open for tastings and short tours by appointment only. You can email arizonasake@gmail.com, or give Sakurai a call at 928-214-8594, to set one up. If you're in town and he's traveling, or if you can't visit in person, the Arizona Sake website lists locations in Holbrook and nearby that sell Arizona Sake.

Community Contributors

Added By

CoriB89

Edited By

Abbie Gripman, Alex Mayyasi, hetmzr101, brendonstinson

  • Abbie Gripman
  • Alex Mayyasi
  • hetmzr101
  • brendonstinson

Published

May 18, 2021

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/best-sake-in-america
  • https://www.atlasobscura.com/itineraries/where-to-eat-route-66
  • https://www.npr.org/2019/01/27/688211071/brewing-in-the-desert-sake-finds-an-unlikely-home-in-arizona
  • https://tribunenewsnow.com/arizona-sake-dubbed-best-sake-in-usa/
Arizona Sake
1639 Navajo Blvd
Holbrook, Arizona
United States
34.92043, -110.150132
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Bucket of Blood Street

Holbrook, Arizona

miles away

The Wigwam Village #6

Holbrook, Arizona

miles away

Hidden Cove Petroglyph Park

Holbrook, Arizona

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Holbrook

Holbrook

Arizona

Places 7
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Bucket of Blood Street

Holbrook, Arizona

miles away

The Wigwam Village #6

Holbrook, Arizona

miles away

Hidden Cove Petroglyph Park

Holbrook, Arizona

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Holbrook

Holbrook

Arizona

Places 7
Stories 1

Related Stories and Lists

Our Favorite New Places of 2021

List

By Atlas Obscura

The Elite Sake Brewer on Route 66

deserts

By Abbie Gripman

Related Places

  • South African hops add their own distinctive character to the beers here.

    London, England

    Eko Brewery and Taproom

    Named for the Yoruba word for Lagos, this craft brewery draws on European beer-making and West African palm wine-fermenting techniques.

  • Marrickville, Australia

    Wildflower Brewery

    Inventive brewers use NSW ingredients to dream up flavorful beers made with local honey, native raspberries, and Mariposa plums.

  • Baltimore, Maryland

    Ministry of Brewing

    An abandoned church gets a second life as a massive beer hall and event space.

  • The press for extracting liquid from the fermented rice mixture.

    Nikko, Japan

    Katayama Shuzo

    Founded in 1880, this humble brewery still practices a disappearing technique of sake-making.

  • The old Adam Scheidt Brewing Company in Philadelphia.

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Old Adam Scheidt Plant

    This forgotten building was one of the few Philadelphia-area breweries to survive Prohibition.

  • It was originally designed to be twice its current height.

    Abensberg, Germany

    Kuchlbauer Tower

    A whimsical art tower at a Bavarian brewery includes a grotto for its mythical beer-brewing dwarves.

  • Halve Maan beer pipeline.

    Bruges, Belgium

    Halve Maan Brewery Beer Pipeline

    A beer pipeline runs beneath Bruges.

  • Thai-Chinese makes up Bangkok’s largest diaspora.

    Bangkok, Thailand

    Nai Ek Roll Noodle

    This old-timey Chinatown institution specializes in one of the city’s best Thai-Chinese fusion dishes.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.