The dignified way to stir Ed's tea (6)
I believe the answer is:
sedate
'the dignified' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'way to stir ed's tea' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 's' (Compass direction - South**).
'to stir' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ed'+'tea'='edtea'
'edtea' anagrammed gives 'edate'.
's'+'edate'='SEDATE'
(Other definitions for sedate that I've seen before include "Quiet and rather dull" , "not disturbed by passion or excitement?" , "Give tranquilliser to" , "Unhurried; drug" , "Calm, sober" .)