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When I wake up after sleeping on a train or a bus or in the back of a car, I often find an incredibly unpleasant taste in my mouth. It seems as though a few people get this - google has various results for a "metallic taste after waking up" - but I've not heard any word to specifically describe this taste, as in:

I'm just going fetch a drink - I slept on the way down here and my mouth tastes of something

Of course, "my mouth tastes of crap" would get the point across handily, but I'd like a word that literally refers to this specific sensation. Phrases are also welcome. British english is preferred, but I'd happily borrow from other dialects.

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    Good question. I think we all know the sensation (though it doesn't have to be uncomfortable sleep to me), but I have no words to describe the taste either. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jan 16 '17 at 16:08
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    The feeling is often described as "cottonmouth" or just "dry mouth". But as @JanusBahsJacquet said, I don't know a word for the taste. – John Feltz Jan 16 '17 at 16:09
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    The British army metaphor is a mouth like a vulture's crotch – WS2 Jan 16 '17 at 16:09
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    @WS2 One hopes the soldiers possessed good imaginations. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 16 '17 at 16:15
  • You could probably call it "morning mouth".... – Hellion Jan 16 '17 at 16:17
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The internet calls it simply morning mouth.

An example, from 3 Ways To Reduce Morning Mouth:

We all know the feeling of waking up to an unpleasant taste/smell in our mouth. Morning mouth occurs because, while we sleep, a number of our body’s functions slow down including saliva production.

The term apparently comes from, or was popularized by, an ad campaign from the 1950s. It's doubtful, but not impossible, that it was coined by the "Mad Men" of that era. Here is a screen snap of an ad that appeared in Life magazine in 1953:

Add appearing in Life Magazine

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I call it biofilm or plaque. This site has an explanation, here's the part most pertaining to your question:

it’s almost certain that the film on your teeth in the morning is indeed plaque . Plaque is a sticky mix of bacteria and the substances that the bacteria secrete. One of the substances that bacteria produce is an adhesive chemical called mucopolysaccharides which help the bacteria live on the teeth in the form of a thin film, called “biofilm.”

Emphasis mine.

It's plaque created by bacteria and their biofilm.

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    Please read the question. 'My mouth tastes of/like biofilm'? This explains what contributes towards the taste, but doesn't actually try to communicate what the taste is like. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 16 '17 at 16:39
  • @EdwinAshworth "My mouth tastes like plaque" fits perfectly well to me. "My teeth are covered in biofilm" sounds more like something a space alien might say, but this is still useful information – ymbirtt Jan 16 '17 at 16:41
  • No, you cannot really "taste plaque". That sound awful to my English-speaking ear [joke]. – Lambie Jan 16 '17 at 16:42
  • @ymbirtt That's what I always say. "My mouth tastes like plaque" or "I've got biofilm on my teeth". Whether or not I can ACTUALLY taste plaque, @ Lambie, doesn't matter because people understand what I'm talking about. – Lumos Jan 17 '17 at 0:35
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The term used by Verner C. Bickley in Footfalls Echo in the Memory: A life with the Colonial Service & the British Council in Asia suggests,

...a mouth like a vulture's crotch which I have on occasion heard used, usually by an ex-military type person.

I don't believe vultures have crotches but the thought is enough to make you wince. This really is fascinating.

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