Concoction of alien's dates makes the drink drinkable (11)

I believe the answer is:

desalinates

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'the drink drinkable' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'concoction of alien's dates' is the wordplay.
'concoction of' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'concoction' mean this).
'aliens'+'dates'='aliensdates'
'aliensdates' is an anagram of 'DESALINATES'.

'makes' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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