Drink taken before a meal (8)
I believe the answer is:
aperitif
'drink taken before a meal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for aperitif that I've seen before include "Alcoholic drink before a meal, like sherry" , "Alcoholic drink taken before meal" , "An alcoholic drink before dinner, an appetiser" , "it leads to blow-out" , "Preprandial tipple" .)