Tea service article on the counter (5)
I believe the answer is:
assam
'tea' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'service article on the counter' is the wordplay.
'service' becomes 'mass' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'article' becomes 'a' (indefinite article).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'the counter' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'mass'+'a'='massa'
'massa' in reverse letter order is 'ASSAM'.
(Other definitions for assam that I've seen before include "Indian state, famed for its tea" , "An Indian part" , "brew?" , "Indian tea region" , "NE Indian state (tea)" .)