Red spirit, say, turning up rarely at first (6)
I believe the answer is:
ginger
'red' is the definition.
'spirit say turning up rarely at first' is the wordplay.
'spirit' becomes 'gin' (alcoholic spirit).
'say' becomes 'eg' (both can mean for example).
'turning up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'at first' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'rarely' is 'r'.
'eg' written backwards gives 'ge'.
'gin'+'ge'+'r'='GINGER'
(Other definitions for ginger that I've seen before include "Red (of hair)" , "This 13 [SPICE]" , "Spicy root, often served with sushi" , "Hot-tasting root or general liveliness" , "Light reddish colour or hot-tasting flavour" .)