Resetting the DNS cache does not seem to work on OS X 10.8, what does really work?

Resetting the DNS cache does not seem to work on OS X 10.8, what does really work?

Desired activity: access a site that used to not have a SSL connection through the new https:// root domain. I can accomplish the task over a machine running Windows 7 or XP but flushing the dns of my mac does not affect the outcome — I am still redirected to the hosting provider's website whenever I tried to access the domain with a https:// prefix rather than http://

I tried sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder and it's older alternative but no luck.