Crossword Genius

Judge in court keeping legatee’s case cordial? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

julep

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cordial?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'judge in court keeping legatee's case' is the wordplay.
'judge' becomes 'J' (abbreviation for judge).
'in court' becomes 'up' (up before a judge).
'keeping' is an insertion indicator (some letters kept inside).
'case' means to remove the middle letters.
'legatee' with its centre taken out is 'le'.
'up' enclosing 'le' is 'ulep'.
'j'+'ulep'='JULEP'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for julep that I've seen before include "Cocktail of bourbon, sugar and mint over crushed ice" , "Mint drink in America" , "See 21 Down" , "(Minted) drink made with bourbon, sugar and crushed ice" , "Sweet drink, often medicated" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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