Always a long time after baristas start drinks (9)
I believe the answer is:
beverages
'drinks' is the definition.
('beverage' can be a synonym of 'drink')
'always a long time after baristas start' is the wordplay.
'always' becomes 'ever' (synonyms).
'a long time' becomes 'ages' (ages can mean a very long time).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'start' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'baristas' is 'b'.
'ever'+'ages'='everages'
'everages' after 'b' is 'BEVERAGES'.
(Other definitions for beverages that I've seen before include "Drinks" , "Vegas beer (anag) - beer etc" .)