While we'll never give away the secret formula to Australasia's favourite energy drink, here's a beginners guide to the basic steps involved in making 'V'.

Click here for a printable version of this diagram

	Add water and sugar to the tank to make a simple syrup.
	Dissolve dry ingredients and add flavour compound to batch tank. The ingredients are blended to a specific concentration.
	Blend is carbonated to make it fizzy.
	The finished beverage is filled into either cans or bottles and date coded. The bottles or cans then pass through a pasteurising tunnel. The bottles and cans are then packed into cartons and sent to the Frucor warehouse for distribution.

Key Ingredients in 'V'

Sucrose
- Common table sugar for sweetness

Guarana
- Extracted from the berries of the Brazilian guarana plant.  This ingredient has garnered a worldwide reputation for having a stimulating effect on mind and body.

Caffeine
- Stimulating effect similar to a cup of coffee.

B Vitamins
- Involved in energy metabolism.

Taurine
- An amino acid that is important for metabolism even though it is not used for protein synthesis like other amino acids. It is involved in the normal functioning of the gallbladder, eyes, heart and brain. It appears to have some antioxidant and detoxifying activity. Taurine is a component of bile acids, which help absorb fats and fat-soluble vitamins.

'V' Nutritional Information

Nutrient	Quantity per 100ml	Quantity per 250ml	Quantity per 350ml
Energy	190kJ	475kJ	665kJ
Carbohydrate	11.2g	28g	39g
Protein	Nil	Nil	Nil
Fat	Nil	Nil	Nil
Sodium	100mg	250mg	350mg
Potassium	0.4mg	1.0mg	1.4mg
Caffeine	32mg	80mg	112mg
Niacin	2.9mg	7.2mg	10mg
Pantothenic Acid	0.7mg	1.8mg	2.5mg
Vitamin B6	0.46mg	1.1mg	1.6mg
Vitamin B2	0.49mg	1.2mg	1.7mg
Vitamin B12	0.57µg	1.4µg	2.0µg