Note the French imbibing very soft drink (6)
I believe the answer is:
tipple
'drink' is the definition.
(tippling is a kind of drinking)
'note the french imbibing very soft' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'ti' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'imbibing' indicates putting letters inside.
'very soft' becomes 'pp'.
'ti'+'le'='tile'
'tile' placed around 'pp' is 'TIPPLE'.
(Other definitions for tipple that I've seen before include "pint?" , "Drink (a little but often)" , "where coal is washed" , "Drink alcohol regularly" , "Imbibe" .)