Character spoken for leaves to make drink (3)
I believe the answer is:
tea
'drink' is the definition.
(tea is a drink)
'character spoken' is the wordplay.
'character' becomes 'T'.
'spoken' shows a homophone (sound like).
't' is a homophone of 'TEA'.
'for leaves to make' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tea that I've seen before include "Lapsang souchong" , "Eg, gunpowder, pekoe" , "Oolong, for example" , "Plantation product" , "Assam, e.g." .)