Tonic needed by English after spirits? (7)
I believe the answer is:
ginseng
'tonic' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'english after spirits?' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'eng'.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'spirits?' becomes 'gins'.
'eng' put after 'gins' is 'GINSENG'.
'needed by' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ginseng that I've seen before include "Medicinal tonic root" , "Plant, medicinal forked root" , "Chinese tonic" , "Plant tuber credited with tonic properties" , "Tuber used as tonic" .)