The French taking German drink (5)
I believe the answer is:
lager
'drink' is the definition.
(lager is a kind of drink)
'the french taking german' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la'.
'taking' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'german' becomes 'ger' (abbreviation**).
'la'+'ger'='LAGER'
(Other definitions for lager that I've seen before include "The drink could be regal" , "Regal (anag) - drink" , "Light beer; sounds like camp" , "Continental beer" , "Drink - 5 down (anag)" .)