Recovering abstainer leaves drink (4)
I believe the answer is:
beer
'drink' is the definition.
(beer is a kind of drink)
'recovering abstainer leaves' is the wordplay.
'recovering' becomes 'better' (I've seen this in another clue).
'abstainer' becomes 'tt' (I've seen this in other clues).
'leaves' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'better' with 'tt' taken away is 'BEER'.
(Other definitions for beer that I've seen before include "Fermented malt and hops" , "Hop drink" , "Stout, for example" , "pint" , "eg Bitter" .)