To make it, you need a bit of water (3)
I believe the answer is:
tea
'bit of water' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'to make it you need a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is present in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tea that I've seen before include "Darjeeling, e.g." , "tips for the cup?" , "Shrub; drink" , "brewer's product" , "Eg, gunpowder, pekoe" .)