A true Hemingway Special should be served without the addition of sugar. However, Hemingway had a hardened palate and more delicate drinkers may prefer adding some simple syrup.
Origin
Created by Constantino (Constante) Ribalaigua Vert, the legendary head bartender of La Floridita, Havana, Cuba for Ernest Hemingway, after the great man wandered into the bar to use the toilet. When Hemingway tried the Floridita's standard frozen Daiquiri, he is quoted as saying, "That's good but I prefer it without sugar and with double rum" - so the Hemingway Special was born.
Hemingway suffered from haemochromatosis (a rare hereditary disease that can lead to diabetes) from which his father also suffered, hence his aversion to sugar. The original version was exactly as Hemingway requested a Daiquiri without sugar and heavy on the rum, basically rum shaken with a splash of lime juice. Years later after he took over the position of Head Bartender at La Floridita, Antonio Meilan added maraschino and grapefruit juice into the drink. Today sugar is commonly also added to balance this drink and make it more palatable to people with less sour palates than Hemingway.
Hemingway was affectionately known as 'Papa' in Cuba and this drink was originally named 'Daiquiri Like Papa' and then later 'Papa Doble'. After Meilan added maraschino and grapefruit the drink changed its name again to the Hemingway Special we recognise today.
