It takes liquid refreshment and leaves (3,8)
I believe the answer is:
tea strainer
'it takes liquid' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'refreshment and leaves' is the wordplay.
'refreshment' becomes 'tea' (I've seen this in another clue).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'leaves' becomes 'strainer' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'tea'+'strainer'='TEA-STRAINER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tea strainer that I've seen before include "It catches falling leaves" , "full of holes" , "What is to collect leaves" .)