Tea is one of the most popular drinks around the world and new research has revealed that people in China were enjoying the brew long before the pyramids were being built.

The findings were made by a Chinese research team, who investigated the Tianluo Mountain, in the city of Yuyao in east China, to find China's earliest remains of human tea brewing.

After nearly 10 years of analysis, archaeologists found that people had been brewing tea for around 6,000 years, reported People's Daily Online.

Discovery: The findings were made by a Chinese research team, who investigated the Tianluo Mountain

The root of the issue: Archaeologists found roots belonging to a 6,000 year-old tea tree in China

The findings from the decade-long excavation were announced at the Archaeological Institute of Zhejing Province, on the 18th June.

Research began in 2004 when the team went to the mountain and found defined grooves in the earth near a tree's roots, as well as some broken pottery.

Both Japan's Northeast University and the Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences later confirmed that the roots contained theanine - an amino acid characteristic of tea plants.

Dedicated: The team spent nearly a decade analysing what plant the roots were from

Groundbreaking: The findings show that people have been making tea since before the pyramids were built

And, in 2011 the Ministry of Agriculture Tea Quality supervision announced that the roots were, in fact, from Camellia sinensis, a type of tea trees.

Tianluo Mountain is a part of an archaeological site for the neolithic Hemudu culture, which flourished between 7000 BC and 6000 BC.

In 1978 archaeologists, historians and tea scholars were shocked when experts found 7,000 year-old tea relics at a site on the same mountain.

The latest discovery confirms that the Chinese tea heritage is pushed back 3,000 years further than previously thought.

It also makes the popular drink older than the pyramids, the oldest of which was believed to be created around 2650 BC.

Tea is believed to be first brewed in China for medicinal reasons. However, people soon began drinking it to refresh the body and clear the mind.

The moment of truth: The findings from the excavation were announced on the 18th June.

Popular: Tea was first used medicinally but is now a favourite drink for many people across the world