Excellent medicine fixed up with a strong drink (8)
I believe the answer is:
demerara
'drink' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for demerara that I've seen before include "Rum" , "(Light-brown) sugar" , "sweetener" , "Type of brown sugar" , "Source of sweetness" .)