CHOKE is a Fort Worth–based tea sommelier, visual artist, and experience curator whose work bridges ritual, culture, and sensory storytelling. With over 15 years of study in tea traditions across Asia and around the globe, she approaches tea as a daily practice of connection — to self, to others, and to the unseen.

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The name CHOKE stands for Creating Her Own Kinetic Energy — a philosophy of movement, transformation, and self-sourced power that lives at the heart of everything she creates.

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Her journey began in herbalism, having once owned an herbal apothecary rooted in plant-based healing. That foundation evolved into a deeper calling: to use tea and art to create intimate, transformative spaces. She is the founder of Arte Tea Co. and the co-founder & Director of the Mind Body Ecology Institute, where she designs immersive experiences that weave together flavor, form, and feeling.

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As a visual artist, CHOKE’s work has been exhibited widely — including a recent solo show in Marfa, Texas — the culmination of over 25 years of spiritual and creative inquiry.

 

Her collaborations with Chef Hao Tran explore the universal bond between tea and food, resulting in multi-sensory gatherings where storytelling, ancestral wisdom, and modern artistry converge.

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Raised in Washington, D.C., CHOKE draws inspiration from her family lineage — her father once served as a chef at the White House — a legacy of care and craft that continues through every table she sets and every cup she pours.