European media thus covers something stimulating (8)

I believe the answer is:

espresso

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'something stimulating' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'european media thus covers' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'media' becomes 'press' (the press is part of the media).
'thus' becomes 'so' (synonyms).
'covers' indicates putting letters inside.
'press' placed into 'so' is 'spresso'.
'e'+'spresso'='ESPRESSO'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for espresso that I've seen before include "Coffee drink" , "Strong black coffee" , "Coffee (S, not X)" , "Kind of coffee made with steam" , "Kind of shot" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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