The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 letter word BEEF TEA
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
B
E
E
F
T
E
A
More clues leading to the result BEEF TEA
- Drink running water with live newt further up
- Nourishing drink – complaint over it being reduced with flowing water
- Hot drink — gripe water, essentially brewed?
- Complaint by players dismissing latest nourishing drink
- Airline occasionally kept charge back on board for hot drink
- Under criticism caddy’s content supplying invalid stimulant
- Insect meeting terrible fate in drink
- Busy person, with twist of fate, produces energy drink
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "nourishing drink" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case nourishing drink = beef tea.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.